
(-'ji^.^rZ'^^-t:^^^ 



A>^, 



Journal 



OF A 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS 



IlSr THE YEAR 1805, 



By timothy BIGELOW. 



W^ii\i an Jlntrotiucti0n fig a ©rantison. 



Vita enim mortuorum in menioria vivorum est posita." — Cic. 



BOSTON: 
PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 

1876. 

CO 



INTRODUCTION. 



'T^HIS Journal of a Tour to Niagara Falls, now 
•^ for the first time printed, was lost sight of for 
many years. Several months ago, an antiquarian 
friend brought it to me, saying it had been acciden- 
tally found among some papers recently examined 
by a member of the Massachusetts Historical Soci- 
ety. Through the good offices of my friend, and 
by the kindness of a relative to whose family the 
papers referred to belonged, it has been given to 
me, coupled only with the suggestion that I should 
print it ; a suggestion with which I feel it my duty 
to comply. And I do this willingly, both as a 
tribute of respect to the memory of an honored 
ancestor, and because the Journal itself, written 
more than seventy years ago, cannot fail to be 
instructive and interesting at the present time. It 
throws light on the condition of a section of our 
country, then almost a wilderness, now teeming 
with population. It describes the appearance of 



iv INTRODUCTION. 

the newly settled lands, the quality and products 
of the soil, the signs and development of mineral 
wealth, the diversified scenery, and the habits and 
manners of the people. The account, also, which 
it gives of the inconveniences and dangers of trav- 
elling in those times, and the whimsical distresses 
to which Mr. Bigelow and his companions were 
subjected, is graphic and entertaining. It may be 
not without profit to contrast our experiences of 
travelling in this age of steam, surrounded by so 
many appliances for comfort and luxury, with those 
narrated in this Journal. Perhaps it will result in 
looking back with less regret at what are called 
the " good old days," and in cultivating a spirit of 
greater contentment with our own. 

I have compiled from various sources, but 
chiefiy from Lincoln's " History of Worcester," the 
following biographical sketch of the author : — 

Timothy Bigelow was born in Worcester, April 
30, 1767. He was the eldest son of Timothy 
and Anna Bigelow. His father, a gallant and dis- 
tinguished ofiicer in the Revolutionary war, served 
as major under Arnold in his expedition to Canada, 
and was taken prisoner in the assault on Quebec, 
Dec. 31, 1775. He remained in captivity until 
the summer of the year 1776, when he was ex- 



INTEODUCTIOISr. V 

changed. Soon after his return, he was commis- 
sioned as Colonel, and appointed to the command 
of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment in the 
Continental Army ; a body noted for its intrepidity 
and discipline throughout the war, and on one 
occasion, during a review, receiving the marked 
commendation of Washington. At the close of the 
war, he was stationed at West Point, and afterwards 
assigned to the command of the arsenal at Spring- 
field. Colonel Bigelow died March 31, 1790, in 
the fifty-first year of his age. He was an ardent 
and devoted patriot, who thought no dangers or 
sacrifices too great in the service of his country. 
A monument erected to his memory at Worcester 
in 1861, by his great-grandson, Timothy Bigelow 
Lawrence, attests his valor and his virtues.* 

* Tliese characteristic anecdotes are told of him : — 
The American army in their quarters at Valley Forge displayed 
examples of constancy and resignation such as have been rarely par- 
alleled. In this pressing danger of famine and a probable dissolution 
of the army, Colonel Bigelow convened a party of officers and sol- 
diers at his head-quarters one evening, when the subject of abandoning 
the cause was fully discussed. Some argued that, as Congress could 
not clothe or feed them, they did not feel it to be their duty to leave 
their families and homes, to starve and freeze for a cause that was 
doubtful, if not desperate ; while others, that they had lost confi- 
dence in the cause, &c. When all who wished had spoken. Colonel 
Bigelow arose and said: "I have listened to all the remarks of dis- 
content ofiered here this evening ; but, as for me, I have long since 
come to the conclusion to stand by the American cause, come what 
will. I have enlisted for life. I have cheerfully left my home and 
family. All the friends I have are the friends of my country. I 

h 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

The subject of this Memoir began his education 
in the public schools of his native town. This then 
imperfect source of instruction was soon disturbed 
by the troubles of the times ; and he entered the 
printing office of Isaiah Thomas, where he was 
occupied during two years. The passion for books 
was manifested amid the employments of the press, 
by the devotion of his leisure hours to the acquisi- 
tion of the elementary branches of English and the 
rudiments of Latin. The spring of the year 1779 
found him in the quarters of the Continental 
Army, posted to watch the British forces in Ehode 
Island, gaining the manly accomplishments a camp 
affords, and enjoying the frank courtesies of mil- 
itary life. Returning home, he pursued his studies 
for two years, under the kind superintendence of 
Benjamin Lincoln, a son of the Revolutionary 
General, and afterwards under the direction of the 
celebrated Samuel Dexter, then a student-at-law, 
who accompanied his scholar and presented him 
for admission at Harvard College in 1782. In 
college, Mr. Bigelow took high rank in a distin- 



expect to suffer with cold and with hunger and fatigue, and, if need 
be, I shall lay down my life for the liberty of these colonies." 

During the Revolution, many towns voted that they would have no 
slaves ; and it is related of Colonel Bigelow that, when solicited to 
make sale of a slave Avhom he owned, he replied that, "while fight- 
ing for liberty, he never would be guilty of selling slaves." 



INTRODUCTION. vii 

giiished class, and was graduated in 1786, with an 
unusual reputation for talents and culture. On 
Commencement Day, he took part in a forensic dis- 
pute, — "Whether Religious Disputation promotes 
the Interest of True Piety." Adopting the pro- 
fession of the law, he entered the office of liOvi 
Lincoln, Sen., at Worcester, and remained there 
until the insurrection broke out in 1787, when 
he joined the army for a few weeks as a volun- 
teer, and aided in sustaining the government 
against the wild designs of its internal enemies. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1789, and began 
in Groton the practice of his profession.* A friend 
thus writes of him in 1790: " His memory is re- 
markably tenacious. He possesses a delicate taste, 
and has a high relish for helles-Iettres. His ac- 
quirements are great, his studiousness indefatigable, 
his fluency astonishing. He is a royal pleader." 
In 1806, he removed to Medford, and, while resi- 
dent there, had an office in Boston. His business 
was widely extended. For a long time, he was one 
of the leading counsel in Middlesex and Worcester 
Counties, and later became eminent at the Suffolk 



* It may be au encouragement to young practitioners to know that 
Mr. Bigelow sat in bis office six weeks witbout taking a fee, and then 
received a pistareen ! But Lempriere says of him, "It is computed 
that during a practice of thirty-two years he argued not less than 
15,000 causes." 



viii INTRODFCTIOlSr. 

Bar, besides being retained in many of the impor- 
tant causes in Essex and Norfolk. Thoroughly 
versed in his profession, his power of analyzing 
the truth and presenting the evidence in the case, 
combined with his remarkable command of lan- 
guage, rendered him a highly popular advocate, 
and gave him great success in jury trials.* His 
large and constantly growing practice is a proof of 
the estimation in which he was held by his con- 
temporaries ; and, if to this be added the general 
testimony to his reputation that has come down to 
us, he is entitled to be ranked among the ablest, 
as he was one of the most respected, lawyers of 
his day. 

Amid the engrossing labors of his profession, 
Mr. Bigelow found time for occasional literary 
productions. He delivered an oration before the 
Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, July 21, 
1796 ; a Funeral Oration on Samuel Dana, Sen., 
before the Benevolent Lodge of Free and Accepted 
Masons, at Amherst, N.H., April 4, 1798 ; a 
Eulogy on Washington before the Columbian 
Lodge of Masons, at Boston, Feb. 11, 1800 ; and 
an Address before the Washington Benevolent 
Society, at Boston, April 30, 1814. I take from 

* In " Familiar Letters on Public Characters," Sullivan says, 
"Perhaps no man has spoken to so many juries." 



INTRODUCTION, ix 

the latter the following eloquent passage that 
deserves to be remembered. I also give extracts 
from his other addresses. 

FROM THE ADDRESS BEFORE THE WASHINGTON BENEVO- 
LENT SOCIETY. 

" Thanks be to God, we still retain the right of ex- 
pressing our opinions ! Nor will we ever surrender it. 
It is our inheritance ; for let it be remembere<^ that our 
ancestors, from the moment of their first landing on 
these shores, were always free ; that their resistance to 
Great Britain was not so much the effect of actual suf- 
fering as of apprehension of approaching danger. It 
was not the resistance of slaves, but of those who w^ere 
determined never to become such. It is proverbial, in 
our country, that Boston is the cradle of liberty. It is 
not so much her cradle as her asylum, not so much her 
place of nurture as her citadel. If this were her birth- 
place, she must have been produced at once, as Minerva 
is said to have sprung forth from the brain of Jupiter, 
full-grown and complete in armor. Except a short 
exile at the commencement of the Revolution, this 
always was, and I trust always will be, her favorite 
abode." 



FROM THE PHI BETA KAPPA ORATION. 

" Though humanity and benevolence be justly a part 
of our national character, yet as other nations are be- 
hind us, so we have not arrived at perfection. There 
still remains a wide field for the exercise of a generous 



X INTRODUCTION. 

ambition. To revise, and mitigate in many cases, our 
codes of criminal law, by endeavoring to make a re- 
formation of the offender, instead of his extirpation, the 
object of punishment ; to transform our common places 
of confinement from seminaries of wickedness and vil- 
lany into schools of morality ; to liberate the unhappy 
Africans from the horrors of a slavery equally unjust 
and inhuman ; to promote an interchange of good offices, 
and a mild and pacific disposition among mankind, — ob- 
jects like these are worthy the pursuit of the noblest 
minds. Some of them have already immortalized the 
names of Penn, Howard, and Wilberforce. Shall we 
be deterred ? Shall we shrink in despair from objects 
of such magnitude? Is it chimerical to indulge a hope 
that even we 'may bear a conspicuous part in this noble 
pursuit ? No. Remembering that in such a cause it 
is much more honorable to lead than to follow, we will 
lend our individual assistance, as circumstances may 
permit, and endeavor to give a tone to public opinion. 
If one man, by his personal exertion, could alleviate the 
distresses of thousands, scattered through all the coun- 
tries of Europe, — nay, could gladden even the horrors of 
the East, — what may not numbers achieve? . . . Our 
country has already taught the world the true science 
of government, and the art to be free. She exhibits the 
example of a great people flourishing and happy, among 
whom, to the surprise of other nations, gradations in 
rank and exclusive rights are entirely unknown. Why, 
then, shall we not instruct the species in the arts of 
humanity, and the science of universal friendship ? Is 
this general diffusion of philanthropy mere chimera and 
extravagance ? If it be, I could almost wish that we 



INTRODUCTIOX. xi 

might still cherish the delusion. For what but the 
reality could be more grateful to benevolent minds, than 
a confident anticipation that the whole world would 
become a common country to each individual ; that 
mankind would be but one family by practice as well 
as extraction, and thereby taste on earth the joys of 
heaven itself? " 



FROM THE FUNERAL ORATION ON SAMUEL DANA, SEN. 

" When we consider the wonderful structure of the 
human mind, its capacity for successive improvement 
from the dawn of infancy to the evening of old age, the 
passions and emotions by which it is ennobled, and the 
sublime tendency of its views ; when, in short, we con- 
sider the immense disparity between this image of Deity 
and his fellow-tenants of this globe, the brute creation, — 
we revolt at the idea of annihilation, we shudder at the 
thought of sharing one common distinction, one eternal 
sleep, with the meanest insect. We cannot conceive 
that this exquisite specimen of creative omnipotence 
should be limited in its existence to a few years, when 
even monuments of human art survive the shock of 
ages. When, therefore, we see one who was distin- 
guished by his virtues locked in the cold arms of death, 
and lying in ruin before us, we are impelled by a kind 
of instinctive reason, which seems common to all na- 
tions and times, to contemplate some vital spark, some 
divine ray, which had animated and illumined the man, 
as only separated, not extinguished ; but with views more 
unconfined, powers more unlimited, and conceptions 
more sublime, still progressing in improvement, and 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

basking in the sunshine of divine benignity. . . . Scarce 
eight months have ehipsed, my brethren, since in this 
place, on the occasion of the consecration of your Lodge, 
alike joyful to him and to you, you saw him invested 
with the ensigns of command, and heard the words of 
wisdom and brotherly love fall from his lips. But a 
few days are gone since your Lodge saw him in the 
east, affording you light and instruction, and directing 
your work. Not all his zeal for your welfare and happi- 
ness, his knowledge in the mysteries of the craft, nor 
the interest which he had in the affections of the breth- 
ren, could avert the stroke of death. Though he regu- 
lated his conduct by the square, and kept within com- 
pass ; though he duly regarded the plumb line, and acted 
as in view of the all-seeing Eye, — we now behold the 
master builder prostrate before us, reduced by the great 
leveller of human greatness. But the testimonial roll 
shall long remain incorruptible, and the sprig of sweet 
remembrance shall flourish on his grave. While with 
funeral pomp and masonic honors we transfer the re- 
mains of our departed brother to the home of silence, 
in imitation of the wise Solomon, the second founder 
of our order, let us resolve to serve our Supreme Grand 
Master on high with a perfect heart and a willing mind ; 
that so, being duly prepared, when we shall be trans- 
ferred from the Lodge here below, we may gain admit- 
tance into the Sublime Lodge above, there to meet our 
departed brother, and perfect that affection which had 
its origin on earth." 



INTRODUCTIOX. XIU 

FROM THE EULOGY ON WASHINGTON. 

" His administration was a satire on those who are 
born to rule. Making the general good the sole object 
of his pursuit, and carefully distinguishing the atten- 
tion which was due from him as an individual to the 
claims of relation and friendship from the duties he 
owed to the public, he never 3'ielded to the influence 
of private partiality, nor stooped to the low policy of 
aggrandizing his family by the gifts of office. He 
■bestowed employments on those only who added to 
integrity the qualities necessary to discharge them. 
Patient in investigation and cautious in research, he 
formed his resolutions with deliberation, and executed 
them wdth decision. Conscious of the purity of his 
motives, and satisfied with the propriety of his deter- 
minations, — daily estimating also tiie sacred duty of 
maintaining the constitutional rights of his office, — he 
was not to be soothed into dishonorable compliance by 
the blandishments of flattery, nor diverted from his 
purposes by the terror of numbers or the imposing 
weight of public character. When a revolution, unpre- 
cedented in its kind, had involved the European world 
in confusion, and the flame of war was spreading into 
other quarters of the globe, neither the insidious 
attempts of the emissaries of France, nor the treach- 
erous arts of her American adherents, could induce him 
to hazard our quiet. Though himself a soldier, and 
equal to the emergencies of war, he perceived not onl}^ 
the true interests of his country, but justice and human- 
ity, enjoined a continuance of peace. He therefore 
wisely adjusted the misunderstandings which threat- 
ened our tranquillity, and resolved on a strict neutral- 



Xiv INTRODUCTION. 

ity. Oiir own experience, and the events wliicli have 
since transpired in other countries, have fully justified 
the measure. Yet, strange to tell, disappointed faction, 
despairing of success in an impeachment of his discern- 
ment or understanding, has dared here to arraign the 
purity of his motives. Circumstances seem to have 
placed him beyond the reach of suspicion. His wealth 
was more than sufficient for all the purposes of splendid 
enjoyment ; he had no posterity to inherit hereditary 
honors ; and he was surely too wise not to know that a 
crown would tarnish his glory, — that his own reputa- 
tion was inseparably connected with the prosperity of 
his country, — that his fame would mount no higher 
than her eagle could soar. What more than he pos- 
sessed could ambition pant for ? What further had 
the world to bestow ? " 

While Free Masonry was in its palmy state in 
New England, Mr. Bigelow presided for two tri- 
ennial terms over the Grand Lodge of Massachu- 
setts, and in that capacity, with a splendid escort of 
craftsmen, in 1808 made a journey to Portland, to 
install the officers of the Grand Lodge of Maine. 
He early entered the Legislature of the Common- 
wealth, and was elected to a seat either in the 
Senate or House of Representatives, for a long 
series of years. 

In 1802, he was a member of the Executive 
Council. Li 1805, he was chosen Speaker of the 
House ; and for eleven years — eight of them in 



INTEODUCTION". XV 

succession — presided over this branch of the leg- 
islative department with signal ability and popu- 
larity.* 

Entering warmly into the politics of the times, 
and entertaining the views of the opponents of the 
policy and measures of the General Government, 
he was a prominent member of the Federal party, 
and in December, 1814, was a delegate from 
Massachusetts to attend the Hartford Convention, 
with his colleagues, George Cabot, Harrison Gray 
Otis, and William Prescott.f In 1820, he was 
again a member of the Council ; but before his 
term had expired he died of a typhus fever, at 
Medford, May 18, 1821. 

iNIr. Bigelow was endowed with ready appre- 

* When Mr. Bigelow became Speaker of the House, then number- 
ing seven hundred members, it is said that he could call them all by 
name on the third day after they had assembled. 

f Perhaps at no time in our history has party spirit run so high as 
during the war of 1812-15. Unsparing censure and abuse were 
heaped upon the members of this famous assembly. Impartial judg- 
ment at this day will probably concede to the able and distinguished 
men who composed it honest and patriotic purposes, however mistaken 
in their political views. A well-known writer says : " That these 
men . . . acted from pure motives, the candid of their political oppo- 
nents did not dispute. That they were fallible, their friends did not 
deny, . . . yet their views were much misrepresented for party pur- 
poses." And of the Convention: "It was charged with plotting 
against the Union ; but there was nothing in the . . . resolves pre- 
paratory to the Convention, nor in their proceedings nor report, which 
was in favor of a separation of the United States from the Union, nor 
which could be fairly construed as implying or intimating such a 
measure." 



Xvi INTEODUCTION. 

hension and an active and inquisitive mind. Gath- 
ering knowledge with facility, exact method and 
systematic industry enabled him to compass a vast 
amount of reading. Exploring almost every 
branch of liberal science, he was peculiarly con- 
versant with Theology, attaining sufficient profi- 
ciency in Hebrew to read the Old Testament 
in the original tongue. His retentive memory, 
varied information, and great conversational powers, 
joined to a vein of sparkling humor, eminently 
fitted him for social intercourse. There are those 
still living who may be able to repeat a few of 
his brilliant sayings and admirable repartee, but 
this is all that can now be related of his wit, which 
ever shone at the bar, in the halls of legislation, 
and at the festive board. He had many friends, 
and his society was grateful and endeared to all 
who knew him. 

Mr. Bigelow was a member of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Vice-President 
of the American Antiquarian Society. He had 
strong rural tastes, and was active in establishing 
and conducting the Association of the Middlesex 
Husbandmen. He took great delight in horticul- 
ture, and may claim with others the merit of stimu- 
lating a taste which is now associated no less with 
science than with pleasure. His grounds on the 



INTKODUCTION. XVU 

banks of the Mystic were famous for their beauty 
at that day, and long continued to be a conspicuous 
ornament of the town of Medford.* 

His genial nature and attractive social qualities 
made his house the seat of hospitality. Graced by 
the exercise of domestic virtues, and the scrupu- 
lous observance of religious duties, his private life 
was as excellent as his public career was useful 
and honorable. He married, Sept. 30, 1791, Lucy, 
the daughter of the Hon. Oliver Prescott, for 
many years Judge of Probate for Middlesex County. 
They had a numerous family. His wife survived 
him thirty-one years, and died Dec. 15, 1852. 
She retained her youthful freshness and beauty, in 
a remarkable degree, to an advanced age. 

In person, Mr. Bigelow was tall and slender, 
but well proportioned. He had a dark complex- 

* In early manhood, while reading law in Woi-cester, the garden 
plot around the family homestead was embellished by him with such 
flowers and plants as could be obtained at that period. The same 
passion he naturally carried with hira to Groton ; and there, on taking 
possession of his house and farm, a well-ihosen spot of ground was 
tastefully laid out, both for fiimily uses and for pleasing and orna- 
mental effects. His orchard, in connection with the garden, contained 
not only the common, but the rare varieties of fruit trees, making it 
altogether the best of the village and neighborhood. After his re- 
moval to Medford, in procuring trees he was fortunate in having the 
assistance of his friend and old-time client, the elder Theodore Ly- 
man, whose tastes were congenial with his own, and who often sent 
from his Waltham nurseries standard stock trees, with a man to plant 
them, and furnished him with the first espalier which covered his fruit 
wall. 



xviii INTRODUCTION. 

ion, black hair, and large, penetrating gray eyes. 
He was a man of dignified appearance, of erect 
and graceful carriage, and of very courteous man- 
ners. In an obituary notice, an intimate friend 
and contemporary* says of him, "To all in any 
degree acquainted with the history of this Com- 
monwealth for the last thirty years, it is unneces- 
sary to say any thing of the eminent stations and 
pre-eminent services sustained and performed by 
him. . . .Amply as this distinguished statesman 
and patriot filled his public oflfices, he was equally 
pre-eminent for the discharge of all the duties of 
a provident father, a kind husband, a hospitable 
neighbor, a liberal and enlightened Christian, a 
constant and sincere friend." Of his funeral, the 
same writer says : " It was attended at Medford 
by a large concourse of afflicted and mourning rela- 
tives and friends, public functionaries, professional 
gentlemen and citizens, although it was not in- 
tended that the funeral should be a public one. . . 
The pall was supported by His Excellency the 
Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, Judge Ward, the 
Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Samuel P. 
Gardner, Esq. The procession was long and sol- 
emn, and never was there an occasion when more 

* Major Benjamin Russell, editor of the " Columbian Centinel." 



INTRODUCTIOl^. XIX 

genuine tears of sorrow were mingled with the con- 
solation which the lives of the good and wise are 
calculated to afford. " 

The following notice appears on the records of 
the Suffolk Bar : — 

" At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the 
Suffolk Bar, it was 

" Voted, That it he recommended to the merahers of 
the Bar to wear crape for the period of thirty days, as 
a testimony of respect for the learning, talents, and vir- 
tues of their late associate, Hon. Timothy Bigelow. 

" W. J. Spooner, 

" Secretary." 

In the preceding pages, with but scanty mate- 
rials at my command, I have been unable to give 
more than a brief outline of Mr. Bigelow's career. 
It has been observed that it is " among written 
memorials that we must look for those traits of 
talent and virtue which fix the destiny of character, 
and by which the false is detected and the true 
established." Mr. Bigelow has left few memorials 
of this class ; yet those few, by their fervid elo- 
quence and philosophic spirit, cause regret that 
more of his addresses, and some of his forensic 
arguments and political speeches (for of these lat- 
ter none remain) had not been preserved. But 
they have been scattered to the winds ; and his 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

reputation mainly depends on personal recollec- 
tions, which are fast fading away. I indulge the 
hope, therefore, that this imperfect sketch of his 
life may serve to rescue his name and fame — at 
least for his descendants — from entire oblivion. 

The Journal is printed from the manuscript, 
unchanged with the exception of the spelling, 
which I have modernized, when necessary. I have 
also supplied trivial omissions, and corrected occa- 
sional carelessness in composition, incidental to 
a journal written while travelling, and which the 
author had probably neither leisure nor inclination 
to correct after his return. In general, however, 
he will be found uncommonly accurate in his state- 
ments, — which I have verified by consulting con- 
temporaneous accounts of the same region, — as he 
is happy in his choice of language and animated in 
his style. 

I am indebted to my kinsman, Dr. Samuel A. 
Green, for constant and efficient interest in the 
revision of the Journal. 

A. L. 

Boston, June 10, 1876. 



BiGELOW's jour:n^al 



OF A 



TOUR TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



JOURNAL. 



IN pursuance of an intention which some of us had 
entertained for many years, Timothy Williams, Esq., 
Mr. Samuel P. Gardner, Major John Williams, Mr. 
Nathaniel C. Lee, and myself, set off from Boston on 
the eighth day of July, in the year 1805, to visit the cele- 
brated Falls of Niagara ; purposing, however, to exam- 
ine all the natural curiosities to be met with in or near 
our route, which should not occasion too great a diver- 
sion from our main object, to return home by the way 
of Montreal and Lake Champlain. 

Our first stage was to Wheeler's tavern in Framing- 
ham, twenty-three miles from Boston, to dine. This is a 
very good house ; both Wheeler and his wife are indus- 
trious and obliging. We proceeded next to Jennison's 
in Worcester, to sleep, nineteen miles. There was here 
a gentle shower in the evening. Jennison himself is 
coarse, clownish, and stupid ; but his wife is active and 
obliging, and it is entirely owing to her. that this is a 
pretty good house. I went three miles further myself, 
to sleep at my mother's, in the Worcester village. 



4 JOURNAL OF A 

July 9tli. To Hobart's in Leicester, to breakfast, nine 
miles. This is a tolerable house. Governor Strong and 
a Miss Allen, who was going with him to visit hisfamil}^ 
at Northampton, breakfasted here also. The Governor, 
we found, would have stopped at Jennison's to sleep the 
night before ; but, having seen us stop there, he had pro- 
ceeded further, and slept at Johnson's, near the court- 
house in Worcester. To Hitchcock's in Brookfield, to 
dine, fifteen miles. Governor Strong had set out from 
Leicester before us ; but we had passed him rather rudely 
in Spencer, owing to the thoughtlessness of our driver. 
Having slackened our pace till he again overtook us, we 
made the best apology for our incivility which the case 
admitted, by laying the blame where it p)roperly be- 
longed. Our apolog}' was accepted. Mr. Dwight, of 
Springfield, met us at Hitchcock's, and advised us to 
take the route by Springfield to Ballston. We satisfied 
ourselves, however, by an inspection of the maps, that 
we should make an angle to the soutliAvard from a 
straiglit line, even by going through Northampton, and 
that the evil would be increased by going through 
Springfield. To Mellin's in Belchertown, to sleep, eigh- 
teen miles ; a good house. Mellin was from Sturbridge 
in the county of Worcester. We met here with a gen- 
tleman horse-jockey, from Conway, who was yery in- 
quisitive and communicative, and assumed the direction 
of the conversation ; he was particularly careful to men- 
tion the familiarity of his acquaintance with men of note. 
July 10th. To Northampton, Clarke's, to dine, fifteen 
miles ; a very good house. We here visited a warehouse 
stored with silkworms just beginning to spin their pods ; 
from the worms we saw it was expected that from thirty 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 5 

to forty pounds of sewing-silk would be manufactured, 
which would be worth ten dollars per pound. We vis- 
ited Governor Strong at his house, where we were very 
politel}^ received. We met there Mr. Hinckley and 
other company. 

The famous tract of interval in this town called the 
Great Rainbow is not within sight of the great road, as 
Ave supposed, but is situated further down the river, and 
is of a much superior quality to that through which the 
road passes. Connecticut River seldom or never lower 
than when we passed it. To Bailey's in Chesterfield, 
fourteen miles, to sleep ; a good house. The landlord 
heard at Hartford that we should be at his house this 
night, and had therefore rode fifty miles in the after- 
noon and evening, to be at home to attend upon us. 

July 11th. To Mills's in Worthington, to breakfast, 
seven miles ; a good house, uncommonly neat. Two 
miles after leaving Bailey's, we passed Westford River 
at a place where the stream has forced a passage through 
rocks which now rise many feet jjerpendicularly on 
either side. Colonel Wooclbridge, of Worthington, made 
us a visit while breakfast was preparing. To Merrick's 
in Pittsfield, twenty miles, to dine ; this is an ordi- 
nary house. Called on John C. Williams, Esq. His 
accomplished daughter entertained us with a perform- 
ance on the piano-forte. We left the direct road to New 
Lebanon Springs, and made a deviation of four miles to 
view the village and observe the manners of the Shakers, 
at the confines of Pittsfield ancV Hancock. The number 
here is about one hundred and fifty ; at their village at 
New Lebanon, they estimate their number at three hun- 
dred. At the Hancock village, we saw Daniel Goodrich, 



6 JOURNAL OF A 

Jr., son of the principal overseer, or man of ease, as 
they call him, who showed us' their garden, where w^e 
regaled ourselves with currants and gooseberries in great 
abundance. He next conducted us into a small, neat 
house, which he told us the society had erected for 
the purpose of receiving and entertaining visitors, and 
which was neatly and commodiously fitted up for that 
purpose, being even furnished with beds. Having re- 
freshed ourselves with a draught of excellent cider, we v'] 
took our leave. 

The extent of the Shakers' lands is easily ascertained 
by the most transient observer ; for they are more highly 
cultivated, laid out with more taste and regularity, and 
much better fenced than any other in their vicinity. To 
the New Lebanon Springs, the direct course from Pitts- 
field here is seven miles. 

July 12th. At the New Lebanon Springs, made trial 
of the water for bathing, and found it highly grateful, 
beyond comparison the most so of any which either 
of us had ever experienced. The temperature is be- 
tween 72 and 73° of Fahrenheit. A copious stream runs 
through the bath while one is using it, so that you not 
only have the water in great quantity, but it is continu- ' 
ally changing. A saponaceous quality with which it 
seems impregnated leaves the skin in a soft vellum-like 
state, particularly favorable to insensible perspiration. 
We found some company at Hull's, the occupant of 
the house of entertainment at these springs ; among 
others, were two agreeable young ladies from New 
York, daughters of Mr. Jay, the late Governor of that 
State. The accommodations here are, upon the whole, 
pretty good, though they might be still improved. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 7 

At half-past nine o'clock this morning, left Hull's, and 
proceeded for Albany. The first part of the road along 
the Kinderhook Creek was very fine. We stopped at 
Schermerhorn's in Stephentown, an ordinary house, nine 
miles ; the mills near this house, by giving a sprightli- 
ness to the place, are its chief recommendation. Amongst 
other water-works, we here observed a carding-machine. 
These ingenious contrivances for saving labor have sur- 
prisingly multiplied in the country of late. I have 
found them at all favorable spots, from the further shore 
of the Winnipiseogee to the North River. The growth 
of timber in this neighborhood is much the same as 
in the county of Worcester ; we saw no chestnut-trees 
after leaving Connecticut River till we reached Pittsfield ; 
even here, they have not recovered their full size, but 
grow rather in a resemblance to apple-trees. To 
Strong's in Schodack, or Phillipstown, or Union, or New 
Store, seven miles, to dine ; a pretty good house. Met 
here with a Mr. Jonathan Hoag, a zealous Federalist, 
who assured us that within two years Federalism would 
again come in fashion ; he related to us the circum- 
stances of his first settling in this place in 1775. It was 
then in a state of nature ; now he informed us he had 
two or three thousand bushels of wheat growing in sight, 
as well as prodigious quantities of hay. He owns most 
of the buildings in the village, and is not only a wealthy, 
but a liberal and frank man. A few thousand such 
would renovate good politics through the Union. Val- 
letjeskill is the stream that turns Hoag's mills. Mr. 
Charles Taylor, of Boston, and his father, came up in the 
stage, and dined with us at this house. To Gregory's 
in Albany, twelve miles ; an excellent house. The latter 



/ 



8 JOURNAL OF A 

l^art of the road to this place is undulating, and not a 
little dangerous for want of railing, as the sides of the 
ground have been raised across vallej^s. Towards even- 
ing, a shower to the northward, at no great distance, 
seemed to promise us relief from the heat and dust with 
which we had been greatly oppressed this day ; but it 
passed off without aifording us the desired refreshment, 
and we afterwards found that it had watered but a 
narrow tract of country, although the rain was copious 
where it fell. 

I was much gratified with the sight of the Hudson, 
which I had never seen before. It was more respectable 
in magnitude than we had anticipated. It is amusing 
in travelling thus into the interior country, where one 
seems to be embosomed in the woods, to come forth at 
once into a view of this noble stream, and to see the 
swelling canvas of commerce gliding among the forest 
trees. The Hudson seems to be equally useful by af- 
fording an easy and excellent communication with the 
ocean, and by annually overflowing, and thereby fertil- 
izing its extensive shores. The ferry to Albany might 
be very commodious ; but a dispute between the corpo- 
ration of that city and the Patroon, so called, occasions 
much embarrassment and inconvenience to travellers. 

July 13th. Viewed the place, and found many objects 
to excite attention, and gratify the curiosity of a man 
who had never before been out of New England. The 
old Dutch church and many other ancient Dutch build- 
ings, in the Gothic style, are striking monuments of the 
taste of the age and nation of the first settlers here. 
But Dutch fashions and language, and even Dutch inhab- 
itants, seem to be fast wearing out. All the new build- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 9 

ings are on an improved construction, and one would 
now almost as soon think of employing a Dutch draw- 
ing-master here, as a Dutch architect. The new Dutch 
church is a handsome building ; it is ornamented in front 
witli two towers or balconies, which enclose a portico 
crowned with a pediment supported by four large Doric 
pillars. There is but little ornament to be seen within, 
except about the pulpit ; the stairway leading to that 
is suppoi'ted b}^ delicate pillars in two spiral rows, and 
has on either side a light balustrade or railing : some 
fancy is also displayed in the open iron- work over the 
sounding-board. We took a carriage here, and made an 
excursion to the Cohoes Falls, in the Mohawk River, 
somewhat less than ten miles from Albany. We judged 
the width of the river at the falls to be one thousand 
feet ; there was not water enough to cover the whole 
extent. The principal current is near the middle of the 
bed, where there is a horseshoe or crescent-like excava- 
tion in the rock, with tiie convex part projecting up 
stream. The falls are probably further up the river now 
than heretofore, because the banks for a considerable 
distance below are nearly perpendicular, and entirely 
of rock ; the rock is of a hard slate kind, and it has a 
peculiar curl in the grain, which gives it the appearance 
of petrified wood ; the strata of the slate, in many 
places, appeared to be much inclined to the plane of the 
horizon, and even approached a perpendicular position. 
In approaching near the precipice which constitutes the 
fall, — to the very edge of which, owing to the scarcity of 
water, we could walk dry-shod near half the way across, — 
there were discernible several transverse fissures in the 
rock, indicating that large masses of it, at no great dis- 

2 



10 JOURNAL OF A 

tance of time hence, will fall. Excavations are also 
made near the precipice, by small stones obtaining a 
lodgement on the bed-stone, and then wearing it away 
by a rotatory motion occasioned by the current: some of 
these excavations are already large caverns, and must at 
some future time occasion a further divulsion of the rock ; 
such appearances are common at most waterfalls. The 
height of the Cohoes Falls is computed to be about seventy 
feet. The descent is nearly perpendicular. The dark 
color of the rock forms a very striking contrast with the 
milky whiteness of the falling water. 

Nothing here struck us with more surprise than the 
contemptible appearance of the river for several rods 
below the cascade. At Schenectad/, a few miles above, 
it is from fifty to one hundred rods wide ; here every 
drop of water passes through a channel in the rock, not 
more than eighteen feet wide. 

We went to Waterford to dine. This place is situ- 
ated at the confluence of the Hudson with the upper 
mouth of the Mohawk, and from the shape of the land 
occasioned by this confluence is called Half- Moon point. 
There is another mouth of the Mohawk about a mile 
further down, and another about two miles more below 
that ; these mouths, together with the Hudson, form 
therefore two islands, which are of considerable extent. 
There i^ at Waterford a bridge over the Hudson, the 
first to be met with in passing up that river. It is above 
the junction with the Mohawk, and the rapids stop all 
navigation from there, about half a mile below it. One 
is a little disappointed in not finding more water in the 
Hudson at this place ; it is but ten miles above Albany, 
where it is a noble stream. The difference, however, 



, TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 11 

must be occasioned in a great measure by the tide's ris- 
ing below, but which never reaches the bridge ; it rose 
two and a half feet this day at Troy. Demarest's Hotel, 
at Waterford, an excellent house. We met here with 
Mr. Penniman, a bookseller at Troy ; he was ac- 
quainted with me, and insisted on returning with us 
immediately to Troy, although he had just come from 
there with another gentleman, Mr. Edes, to visit the 
Cohoes. Mr. Penniman's store is well furnished with 
books, and he exhibited to us some specimens of his own 
printing and binding, which do credit to our country. 
Mr. Edes had just been fitting up here a ruling-machine 
of his own invention, for which he has a patent. Mr. 
Penniman put it in operation for our amusement ; we 
thought it a ver}^ ingenious contrivance, and that it 
fully answered the use for which it was intended. 

The passage of the river by the ferry at Troy was much 
more agreeable to us than that near Albany, because 
we could here land on dry ground, and not be obliged 
to wade through the mud on the shore, as we had been 
there. Our whole route this day, out and back, twenty- 
three miles. The weather this day was everywhere ex- 
tremel}^ hot ; but in the upper chamber at Albany, where 
we slept, it was almost insupportable, even in the night. 
The thermometer stood at 84° in our chamber window, 
at daylight. 

Mr. Lee now first communicated his intention not 
to proceed with us any further. We therefore adjusted 
our accounts with him, dismissed our Boston carriage, 
and engaged an extra stage carriage to transport the 
remainder of the party to Ballston Springs to-morrow. 

J uly 14th. We proceeded to Schenectady to breakfast, 



12 JOURNAL OF A 

fifteen miles, Beals's tavern ; a good house. A new 
turnpike is making from Albany to this place ; it is con- 
structed in a very durable manner, Avith a pavement 
covered with hard gravel. That part which is completed 
is now an excellent road ; the remainder will soon be 
equally good. It was not disagreeable to us to be in- 
formed that this road, and indeed all the other turn- 
pikes, and most other recent works which Ave met Avith, 
which required uncommon ingenuity or labor, were con- 
structed by Yankees. 

, f, Schenectady seems not to be a Avord fitted to common 
organs of speech. We heard it j)ronounced Snacketady, 
Snackedy, Ksnackidy, Ksnactady, Snackendy, and 
Snackady, which last is much the most common; To 

^Ballston, Bromeling's, sixteen miles ; a most excellent 
house. We found here about forty guests, but under- 
stood there were upAvards of two hundred at Aldrich's, 
McMasters's, and the other boarding-houses near. 
Bromeling himself has accommodations in the first 
style for one hundred and thirty persons. 

We met Avith but few people here from Massachusetts. 

• Mr. Henry Higginson and his Avife, Mr. Bingham, tlie 
bookseller, and his family, Avere all Ave knew. The 
mineral Avater was not agreeable to us all upon the first 
experiment ; but with others, and myself in particular, 
it Avas otherAvise. It is remarkably clear and transpar- 
ent ; the fixed air, Avhich is continually escaping from it, 
gives it a sparkling appearance, and a lively and full taste, 
not unlike to that of brisk porter or champagne Avine, 
Avhile one is actually drinking. I After the draught is fin- 
ished, the chalybeate taste prevails. The tem^jerature is 
that of common Avell water, from 50 to 52° of Fahren- 



TOUK TO NIAGARA FALLS. 13 

heit. By pouring the water from one vessel to another 
till the fixed air is all dislodged, it loses its transparenc}^ 
and becomes a smoky color and nauseous to the taste. 
A small quantity of brandy mixed with it, when first 
taken from the fountain, communicates to it an opaque 
black color ; a dej)osit is made in a few hours of a black 
sediment, and the Avater is left clear again, but bereft of 
all its good qualities. Some springs, which for many 
years have affoided the w'ater in perfection, have, with- 
out any apparent cause, lost their distinguishing proper- 
ties, while others have as unexpectedly acquired them ; 
some springs also, which possess these properties, are 
now found within a fcAV feet of springs and streams of 
common water. The quantity of mineral water that 
may be drank with impunity, and perhaps Avith advan- 
tage, is surprising ; it is not uncommon for some persons 
to drink four or five gallons in a d.ay. There is danger, 
however, by a too free ^lse of it at first, incurring a di- 
arrhoea. Using a proper caution in this respect, there 
can be no doubt that the use of it may be advantageous 
to languid and feeble stomachs, that it promotes diges- 
tion and exhilarates the spirits. Sulphur is to be found 
on the surface of the earth near the springs, in a state 
almost pure ; and, Avhere a fire has run o\'er some ground 
in the vicinity, it affords a smell like that of gunjjowder. 
July loth. We took a carriage, together with Mr. Hig- 
ginson and his wife, and Avent up to Saratoga Springs, 
out and home tAventA^ miles. We drank of Congress, 
Columbia, Washington, and Great Rock springs. The 
Avater at all these springs is much the same as at Ball- 
ston ; the principal difference amongst them all arises 
from the different degrees Avitli wliich they are impreg- 



14 JOURNAL OF A 

nated with their peculiar mineral properties. The great 
rock itself is a curiosity ; it is of lime, Avhich is the pre- 
vailing stone in all this region. The rock was probably 
formed by the concretion of the lime contained in the 
water. This supposition is the only satisfactory way to 
account for the extraordinary aperture through it ; for 
that this aperture is natural, tlie irregularities of its 
shape leave very little doubt. The population of Ball- 
ston has wonderfully increased within a few years. 
There are already in it four meeting houses, a court-house, 
and a considerable population, beside the village Avhich 
has grown up about the springs, and which can afford 
accommodations for near one thousand guests. 

The soil in the neighborhood appears to be good, 
great quantities of grain and grass are growing upon it, 
and the young orchards everywhere to be seen appear 
to thrive. When the stumps and dead trees which now 
encumber every field shall be cleared off, the prospect in 
this vicinity will be agreeable, if not beautiful. The soil 
in and about Saratoga is principally pine plain, light and 
sandy. There is a small village with pretty accommoda- 
tions for guests near the Great Rock spring; but the 
•principal resort is at Ballston. Were it not for that place, 
Saratoga would become of much more importance than 
it ever can be while the Ballston waters retain their 
properties. The resemblance in the qualities of the Avater 
at both places renders it probable that all the intermediate 
country is impregnated with them, and thus we can con- 
ceive how so large and constant a waste can be supplied 
without a perceptible diminution. 

July IGth. Returned to Schenectady. We passed the 
Kayadeross Creek between Ballston and Schenectady, 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 15 

as also between Ballston and Saji-atoga. Jnst as we 
were leaving Bromeling's, Messrs. Harrison, Gibbs, and 
others, arrived there from South Carolina, and informed 
us that in a da}^ or two they should follow us to Ni- 
agara. 

An unfortunate man at Bromeling's occasioned no 
small uneasiness among the guests there, from an appre- 
hension that he had upon him the elephantiasis,.- or 
some such infectious disease. Major Williams, who had 
seen the elephantiasis, did not hesitate to pronounce 
this man's disorder to be of that kind. Certain it is his 
appearance was frightful, both from a dark, livid, and 
bloated appearance of his skin, and the peculiar wild 
and lion-like glare of his eyes, insomuch that all the 
company at the house had inquired out and carefull}^ 
avoided the bath which he used, gave directions that 
their clothes should not be washed at the same time 
with his, and were even solicitous, at table or elsewhere, 
not to be to leeward of him or very near him. The 
reputation of the house was in danger, and it was re- 
ported at the other boarding-houses in the neighborhood 
that Bromeling had a guest who was afflicted with a 
highly infectious and dangerous disease. " At the request 
of many of the guests. Dr. Stewart, of Baltimore, rep- 
resented to Bromeling their uneasiness with this man's 
company. Bromeling thereupon desired him to leave 
his house immediatel}', which he accordingly prepared 
forthwith to do ; not, however, without expressing great 
offence that any one should suppose his disease infectious, 
which he affirmed to be false. He said that his disorder 
was only a want of free circulation of the blood through 
the proper vessels ; but why ma^^ not such a disease be 



16 JOURNAL OF A 

infectious? A Mr. Seaman of New York, whom we 
met at the springs, we found a very companionable, 
agreeable, and intelligent man. 

The Mohawk River at Schenectady is about the size 
of the Merrimack at Salisbury, in New Hampshire. The 
temperature of the water at the ferr}^ where we passed 
it, both at the sides and in the middle of the stream, 
we found to be 86'^ of Fahrenheit. 

Schenectady is a considerable place, containing about 
three or four thousand iidiabitants, a college, several 
houses of public worship, &c. There is here one stee- 
ple, which considerably resembles that in Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, near the bridge. Tliis place is said to 
have been a fiivorite resort of the Mohawk Indians, and . 
a spot is shown near the town, where many hundred 
Mohawk warriors usually resided. The situation is 
pleasant'in itself, and probably from the fertility of the 
soil in its neighborhood must formerly have abounded 
with Grame. p— 

r 

We slept at Beals's. July 17th, we took the western 
stage in company with a Mr. Row, a gentleman from 
Virginia, who was about to engage in trade at Geneva, 
on the Seneca Lake. We crossed over to the north 
side of the Mohawk soon after setting out, to Schwartz's 
(still in Schenectady), a poor house, seven miles ; thence 
to Pride's in iVmsterdam, nine miles. Pride's is a hand- ' 
some limestone house, built about fifty years since, as 
we were informed, by Sir William Johnson, for his son- 
in-law, Guy Johnson. • Although this house was de- 
signed for a baronet's palace, it is now improved as a;,/ 
very ordinary tavern. A peculiar kind of bush or 
acacia tree "rows in this neighborhood. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 17 

] To Abel's in Amsterdam, situated on Trapp's Hill, 
opposite to the mouth of Schoharie River and the old ' 
Fort Hunter, to dine. The prospect to the south-west 
is extensive and romantic, exhibits an agreeable mixt- 
ure of hills and plains, diversified with extensive for- 
ests almost in a state of nature, and cultivated fields 
scarce less extensive, now covered with a rich harvest 
of ripening wheat. The prospect was the principal 
thing which we found in this place to recommend it. 
The tavern is a poor one, and our dinner of course was 
miserable. Four miles to Shepard's, in CanajoliariCi to 
sleepTj Seventeen miles in this stage, we passed a re- 
markable precipice terminating in a promontory, which 
approaches almost to the river, called St. Anthony's 
Nose. The country on each side of the river is gen- 
erally mountainous, and in some places there is hardly 
space between the cliffs and the water sufficient for a 
road. At Shepard's is a new wooden bridge over the 
Mohawk, two hundred and fifty feet long, consisting of 
a single arch. It is already ruinous and considerably 
bent, and seems very likely to fall soon. We thought 
it not impossible that it might fall while Ave were on it. 
John Nazro, formerly of \^''orcester, trades about half 
a mile from this bridge, on the southerly side of the 
river. We saw near his house a field of Palma Christie 
which we were told he was cultivating for the purpose 
of manufacturing castor oil. JTlie Mohawk in many 
places was shoal, and interrupted with so many islands 
and sand-banks that we were often at a loss to conceive 
how loaded boats could pass, and yet we saw several 
going up-stream with heavy loads. 

Shepard would keep a good tavern, if his wife was as 

3 



18 JOURNAL OP A 

attentive, neat, and active as he is. The reverse, how- 
ever, is the case. He is even obliged to do her duty as 
well as his own. As might be expected, therefore, we 
found the beds preoccupied by domestic inhabitants, 
who threatened us with a bloody reception if we at- 
tempted to repose there. We declined the combat, and 
preferred sleeping on the floor. We rose next morning- 
much more refreshed than our accommodations had 
given us reason to expect. 

July 18th. To Carr's at Little Falls, to breakfast,""^ 
twenty miles ; a very good house. In this stage, we 
passed the East Canada Creek. Observed for the very 
first time the cypress-tree. The gloomy, melancholy air 
of this tree, and the deep shade which it casts, resulting 
from the downward direction of its branches, as well as 
the form and color of its leaves, have very^properly 
marked it out as emblematical of mourning.V^ 

On approaching the Little Falls, we observed un- 
doubted marks of the operation of the water on rocks, 
now far out of their reach, particularly the round holes 
worn out by pebbles kept in a rotatory motion by the 
current, so common at all falls. It is certain that here- 
tofore the falls must have been some ways further down 
stream, and have been much greater than they now are, 
and that the German flats, and other low grounds near 
the river above, must have been the bed of a lake. The 
falls occupy about half a mile. In some spots, the river 
is so crowded between rocks, that one might almost pass 
across it ; in most places, however, it is broken into a 
number of streams by irregular masses of limestone 
rock. There is here a commodious canal for the passage 
of boats cut round these falls. The whole fall is fifty-four 



/ 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 19 

feet ; and there are five locks, in each of which the fall / 
is ten feet, besides the guard-lock, where it is four. The 
locks are constructed of hewn stone, and are of excel- 
lent workmanship ; they are almost exactly upon the 
construction of those at the head of Middlesex canal. 
Most of the buildings in the neighborhood, as well as two 
beautiful bridges over the canal here, are also of Jimer 
stone. Carr and his wife are from Albany, and are agree- , 
able and genteel people. 

To Trowbridge's Hotel, in Utica, to dine. The house y 
is of brick, large, commodious, and well attended. We 
found good fare here ; in particular, excellent wine. From 
Little Falls to this is twentj'-two miles. In this stage, we 
passed the German flats, an extensive and well-culti- 
vated tract of interval land on both sides the Mohawk. 
The town of German Flats is on the south of the town / 
of Herkimer, opposite thereto, on the north side of the 
river. Notwithstanding the celebrity of this spot for the 
excellence of its soil, we thought it not equal to that on 
Connecticut River. Having passed the West Canada 
Creek, the hills on both sides the river seem to subside, 
and open to the view an extensive and almost unbounded 
tract of level and fertile country, though of a much 
newer aspect than any we had seen before. 

At Utica, we passed over to the southern side of the 
Mohawk. The river here is about the size of the Nashua, 
and from this place bends off to the north-west. We 
happened to pass the bridge as a batteau was coming up 
to a store at the end of it, to discharge its cargo. The 
water was so shoal that the batteau grounded before it 
could be brought to its proper place. A pair of horses 
were attached to its bows, and it was not without the 



20 JOURNAL OF A 

assistance of several men, added to the strength of the 
horses, that it was got up to the landing-place at last. 

Morality and religion do not seem to have much hold 
of the minds of people in this region. Instances of 
rudeness and profanity are to be met with in almost 
every place, but the people engaged in unloading the 
batteau were much more extravagantly and unneces- 
sarily profane than is common. Several persons also, 
whom I saw at Little Falls this morning, told me that 
thej^ knew full well that Adam could not have been the 
first man, or that he must have lived much longer ago 
than the Scriptures declare, because they said it must 
be more than five thousand years for the Mohawk to 
have broken through the rocks, as it has done at those 
falls. 

Utica was begun to be settled sixteen years ago, and 
is now a little city, and contains several elegant dwell- 
ing-houses, some of which are of brick, and a few of 
stone, together with a great number of stores and man- 
ufactories of different kinds. The Lorabardy poplar- 
tree is cultivated here in great abundance. The facility 
of transportation by means of the Mohawk and Hudson 
Rivers on one side, and Wood Creek, Oneida, and Onta- 
rio Lakes on the other, together with the extraordinary 
fertility of the adjacent country, must at no great dis- 
tance of time make Utica a place of great business and 
resort, and of course its population must rapidly increase. 
Moses Johnson, a broken trader, late of Keene, now of 
Manlius, a little above this place, whom we saw at Trow- 
bridge's, spoke of this country as not favorable for 
traders, and that a very few stores of goods would over- 
stock the market. It is natural, however, for people in 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 21 

his situation to ascribe their misfortunes to any thing 
rather than their own imprudence or misconduct, which 
others woukl probably consider as the true cause of 
them. Mv. Charles Taylor and his father, whom we 
liad overtaken at Shepard's, we left at Utica. 

July 19th. To Laird's in Westmoreland, to break- 
fast, eleven miles ; a ver}^ good house. Our breakfast here 
was garnished with a dish of excellent honey. Every 
thing in and about the house was neat, and we were 
particularly struck with the genteel and comely appear- 
ance of two young ladies, daughters of our landlord, one 
of whom, we were told, had attended a ball in the neigh- 
borhood, I think at Paris, the evening before. TJiis 
stage was over a tract of very fertile country, nearly 
level, but a little ascending ; the growth was mostly of ^ 
rock-nifvple and lime-tree. We passed a creek in New 
Hartford, called Sawguet, or Sagwet, or Sacada [Sau- 
quoit], and another in a corner of Paris called Kerry, or 
Riscana, say Oriskany. The whole country from Utica 
to this place is thickly settled. The houses are mostly 
well built, and many of them handsome ; very few log 
houses to be seen. Young orchards are numerous and 
thrifty, and Lombardy poplars line the road a great 
part of the way ; and yet we saw not a single field 
which had not the stumps of the original forest trees ^ 
yet remaining in it. Honey is sent from hence to Lake 
Ontario, in barrels. 

To Shethar's in Sullivan, eighteen miles, to dine ; a 
good tavern. The face of the country is not so level 
here as about Utica, though it cannot be called hilly, 
even here. In addition to the forest trees which we had 
before seen, we here found the shag-bark nut tree in 



22 JOURNAL OF A 

abundance. In this stage, we passed through the Oneida 
Indian village. We called upon, and paid our respects 
to, the old chief, Skenandoa.* He told us, by counting 
all his fingers till he came to his last little finger, of 
which he marked off a part, by saying hundred, that he 
was upwards of ninety years old. He called himself 
chief. He was blind of one eye. Asked by signs where 
we came from, and on being answered Boston, appeared 
to know that name. He inquired where we were going. 
We said a great way, pointing to the westward ; and he 
thereupon said inquisitively, Niagara ? We said yes ; 
and he then made a motion with his hands and arms 
indicating the falling of the water. 

The royal palace consisted of a log house, the ap- 
proach to which was over a high rail fence. The build- 
ing was about twelve or fourteen feet square, and was 
furnished with a chest or two, two or three stools, and a 
kind of scaffolding or elevation on one side of the room, 
about two feet high, covered with blankets, intended to 
sleep on by night and loll on by day. There was a 
good-natured squaw in the house, whom we took to be 
the wife of the chief; and in the middle of the room 



* Skenandoa died in 181G, aged 110 years. He was well known in 
tlie wars wliicli took place while we were British Colonies and in our 
Kevolutionary contest, as the undeviating friend of the Americans. In 
liis youth he was a brave and intrepid warrior, and in his riper years one 
of the noblest counsellors among the North American tribes. Among 
the Indians he was distinguished by the appellation of the "white man's 
friend." From attachment to the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, missionary to 
his tribe, he had always expressed a strong desire to be buried near his 
minister and father, that he might (to use his own expression) "go up 
with him at the great resurrection." This wish was gratified, and he was 
interred in the village of Clinton, near the remains of Mr. Kirkland. — 
N. Y.Hist. Coll. — Ed. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 23 

was suspended from the roof a kind of cot, in which was 
an infant Indian asleep, about six months old, a most 
perfectly formed child. We conjectured it to be the 
grandchild of the chief. Probably the immediate parents 
of the child lived in the next house, which was distant 
not more than six feet. We I'emarked upon the clothes 
of this infant a great number of silver brooches. Upon 
the whole, our reception by the old king and his royal 
consort was very gracious ; probably the more so, on 
account of several small pieces of money which we laid 
down on the breast of the sleeping infant. 

We saw a young man among the Oneida Indians, 
who was a little better dressed than the rest. I in- 
quired of one who could speak English who he was, 
and was informed that he was lately from Canada ; that 
he was an Oneida, but descended from those of that 
tribe who, in the course of our war, had espoused the 
British cause. Some of these Indians approached so 
near to white people in their complexions and appear- 
ance as to induce me to remark it to the one who spoke 
English, and he told me they were part French. 

We were afterwards told that there had in various 
ways been such a mixture of blood in this tribe that 
a genuine Oneida Indian w-as perhaps not to be found. 
Most of those whom we saw in the village were rather 
surly, and all of them filthy. The old chief was by far 
the best-looking and best-behaved man amongst them. 
He is more than six feet high. j_^In this stage, we also 
passed the Skanandoa Creek, the first water we met 
Avith which discharges itself into the ocean by the St. 
Lawrence, as the Oriskany was the last which pays 
tribute to the Hudson. 



24 JOURNAL or A 

We next passed the Oneida Creek, whicb unites with 
the Skanandoa. The earth in some places here is of 
the same color with that on Connecticut River, where 
the red freestone is found. In the Oneida village, the 
fields are free from stumps, the first to be met with that 
are so from Utica to this place. It is said that these 
Indians cut some hay and raise a little corn, but the 
quantity of each is so small that both they and their 
cattle suffer considerably during the winter. Their 
lands seem to be of an excellent quality and well watered ; 
but their husbandry is very slovenly, and their houses, 
which are constructed wholly with logs, are dirty and 
comfortless. We found a considerable number of them at 
a neighboring retailer's shop, drinking rum. We treated 
them with some, and amused ourselves with their dex- 
terity at hitting a mark with their arrows, by setting up 
cents at some roods' [rods' ?J distance for them to shoot 
at. The marksman who hits a cent in this manner 
takes it for his pains. They seldom miss their aim, and 
it is remarkable that they take it with both eyes open. 

The Oneida reservation is ten miles square, and the 
number of Indians in the tribe is computed at seven 
hundred. We saw great numbers of black cattle^and 
horses belonging to them, grazing in their fields. \ To 
Tyler's in Onondaga Hollow, to sleep, twenty-one miles. 
The last sixteen miles are over a very hilly country ; the 
Canaseraga Mountain, in particular, is four or five miles 
over, and very steep. \ From this mountain we had an 
indistinct view of the Oneida Lake to the north-west- 
ward ; but the weather was hazy, and the opening among 
the trees, through which alone v/e could see the lake, 
was so small that the prospect was not very satisfac- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 25 

tory. Before coming to the Canaseraga ^Mountain, we 
passed the Canaseraga and Chittenango Creeks, and 
after passing the mountain we passed the mill and De 
Witt's Creek. Near the top of the mountain, a few 
rods to the north of the road, is situated a curious 
spring, which we visited. It is in a hollow or basin, 
which is about thirty feet over and twelve deep. A 
small stream springs out of the earth on one side of the 
basin, runs across it, and then entirely disappears. 
Txiie countr}^, as we approached the Onondaga Hollow, 
we found had been longer settled than nearer the 
Oneida village, because the last cession of the Oneidas 
on the west, and immediately contiguous to their pres- 
ent reservation, was made but six or eight years ago, 
whereas the country to the westward of that had begun 
to be settled some time before. The town of Manlius, 
in particular, has the appearance of a flourishing settle- 
ment. This town is the first in the 31ilitary Tract, 
which is the lands given by the State of New York as 
a gratuity to the officers and soldiers of their line in 
the Revolutionary Army. As we were descending into 

the Onondaga Hollow, we saw to the north-westward 

--> 
the Salina or Onondaga Lake.) The descent into the Hol- 

. ■ -^ 
low is from \evy lofty into very low ground. The Hol- 
low is a flat extending from north to south eight or ten 
miles, being from one to three or four miles wide. The 
settlement is near the northern end ; and the Onondaga 
reservation, which is three miles long and two broad, is 
situated at the southern extremity of the Hollow. The 
land throughout, but particularly the Indian reservation, 
is said to be of an excellent quality. 
Crhe Onondaga Creek, which is of a convenient size 

4 



26 JOURNAL OF A 

for a mill-stream, runs along the Hollow from south to 
north, as do all the other streams in this country. This 
creek passes near the celebrated Onondaga salt springs, 
which are situated about five or six miles northward 
from Tyler's, i We had intended to visit these springs, 
but it was near night, and it rained withal when we 
arrived at the Hollow, and we were to proceed on our 
journey before daylight next morning. We therefore 
reluctantly gave up the thoughts of visiting the salt 
springs : we were told, however, that there was nothing 
particularly interesting in a view of the spot where they 
are situated ; that it is a marshy, dirty, and unhealthy 
place, and that the people who manufactured the salt 
are poor, filthy, and sickly. That salt, nevertheless, is 
manufactured there in such abundance, that a barrel 
containing five bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds per 
bushel, can sometimes be purchased for ten shillings, 
New York currency, exclusive of the barrel, the price 
of which is four and sixpence more ; so that the price of 
a bushel of salt, exclusive of the barrel, is sometimes no 
more than twenty-five cents. The quantity produced is 
equal to the demand, we were told about eighty bushels 
sometimes in a day, but it may be indefinitely increased. 

The springs are the property of the State. They are 
farmed out for a certain aunual rent, which is paid into 
the salt treasury. The laborers who manufacture the 
salt are paid for their services in the article itself. 

Some of the Onondaga Indians whom we saw were 
very gayly dressed. One young man, whose appearance 
indicated his being an Indian of taste and fashion, 
had the rim of each ear slit off from the ear itself, so 
as to hang over, and, being stretched by the weight of 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 27 

silver plates wound round them, reached down to his 
shoulders. 

The Onondaga Indians are said to be remarkably tem- 
perate, though not so attentive to husbandry as the 
Oneidas. They are beginning, however, to keep cattle, 
plough, &c. They are peaceable and subinissive in 
their behavior. Our landlord told us that he thought 
them the mo^t civil people in that part of the country. 
They are about three hundred in number, but are con- 
tinually diminishing. 

Anderugaga is the name of their war chief. He is 
said to possess, both in a^Dpearance and disposition, all 
the ferocity ever ascribed to the savage character. 
Tyler's is a poor tavern, and our accommodations for 
sleeping were most miserable. 

"^i^Jul}^ 20th. Rose at half past two o'clock, and pro- 
ceeded to Andrew's, at Skaneateles, to breakfast, sixteen 
miles ; a good tavern. The country is still hilly, but 
very fertile. The soil is deep, — a mixture of loam and 
clay. The roads here must be very bad in wet weather. 
It rained last night for the first time since we com- 
menced our journey ; and the horses' feet, in consequence 
thereof, slipped as if they were travelling on snow or 
ice. 

Rising out of the Onondaga Hollow is a long and 
very steep hill. The road is constructed on the south- 
ern side of a precipice, in such a manner that, as jou 
approach the top of the hill, you have a tremendous 
gulf on your left hand, at the bottom of which you hear 
the murmur of a brook fretting among the rocks, as it 
is passing on toward the Onondaga Creek, which it joins 
in the Hollow. There is a kind of railing or fence, com- 



28 JOURNAL OF A 

posed of logs secured with stakes or trees, which »is all 
that prevents the passenger, and even the road itself, 
from falling to the bottom of the gulf. On the hill 
we foimd the embryo of a village. A court-house is 
already built, and the frame of a hotel is raised. The 
hotel, we were told, is to be kept by one Brunson. It 
is an accommodation much needed by travellers on this 
road. I 

From this hill, we were told, could have been seen 
the Oneida Lake, if we had had daylight and clear 
weather. We passed the outlet of the Otisco Lake, — 
a copious mill-stream of pure water. Indeed, the waters 
of all the streams and lakes in this country, wbich dis- 
charge themselves into Lake Ontario, are remarkable for 
their whiteness and purity. We did not see the Otisco 
Lake, though we were told it was not more than a mile 
distant from the road. Skaneateles is a pleasant village, 
situated on the northern extremity, and at the outlet of, 
the lake of the same name. The lake is from one to two 
miles Avide, and sixteen miles long from north to south. 
There is a view of the village of about six miles up the 
lake. The country which encompasses this lake is de- 
lightful. There are no marshes or swamps to be seen ; 
but the land slopes gently towards the water, so that 
wheat is seen growing to its very edge. The soil is 
remarkably fertile, free from rocks, and agreeably diver- 
sified with gentle swells. The lake, moreover, abounds 
with fish of all kinds usually found in fresh water, and 
the outlet affords a most excellent seat for mills and 
other water-works. Here are already a grist and saw 
mill, a carding-machine, and two distil-houses, which 
are supplied with water from the lake, though many 



TOUR TO NIAGAEA FALLS. 29 

roods [rods ?] distant, by means of pumps wrought by- 
water. The pumps discharge their water into perpen- 
dicular logs or pipes, from which it descends, and then 
runs along in an aqueduct till it reaches the distil-house, 
and then rises again. The dam which is thrown across 
the outlet raises the water over the whole surface of 
the lake. This is the reason there is no beach now to 
be seen on its borders, but the verdure meets the water. 
It is remarkable that this flowing should not overflow 
any lands adjacent to the lake, except a small tract at 
the southern or upper extremity of the lake ; and the 
proprietor of the dam has purchased the right to flow 
that. 

[ To Harris's in Cayuga, fifteen miles, to dine. We here 
had an excellent dinner of beefsteaks. Mr. Harris told 
us that they could keep beef fresh four or five days, in 
hot weather, by hanging it upon the trees — wrapping 
it in flannel — as high as was convenient. Flannel is 
better to wrap it in than linen. 

The village of Cayuga is small, but pleasant and 
lively. It is in the township of Marcellus, on the east- 
ern bank of the Cayuga Lake, within one or two miles 
of its northern extremity. This lake is about two miles 
wide in general, and almost forty miles long. Nearly 
north and south from the village, there are about fifteen 
miles of the lake in sight. The shores are mostly of 
hard land, except at the northern extremity, where there 
is a great deal of marsh, which is an unfavorable circum- 
stance for the village, as it is not only disagreeable to 
the sight, but, I think, also to the smell. There is a 
wooden bridge across the lake, leading from Cayuga vil- 
lage towards Geneva, one mile long, wanting three roods. 



30 JOURNAL OF A 

It suffered so much by shocks of the ice last winter, that 
in some places it is hardly safe to pass it. This forenoon 
we had passed the outlet of the Owasco Lake, but did 
not see the lake itself, which we were told was about a 
mile south of the road. The country hitherto is some- 
what uneven, thougli by no means so much so as near 
the Onondaga Hollow. The soil, however, is excellent 
in many places, and is of a reddish color. 

To Powell's Hotel in Geneva, to sleep, sixteen miles ; 
excellent accommodations. At Harris's we had met with 
a Mr. Rees, a gentleman in trade at Geneva, who took 
passage in the stage with us for that place. From this 
gentleman, Avhom we found very intelligent and com- 
municative, we learned many particulars concerning the 
salt springs, discovered about five years since upon the 
Cayuga outlet. These springs are about twelve miles 
below the Cayuga bridge, and are on both sides the out- 
let : that on the western side is in the township of Ga- 
len, and belongs to Mr. Rees and his partner in trade. , 
These springs had long been known to the Indians, but 
they had always been reserved in communicating their 
knowledge of the state of the country to the white set- 
tlers. It was not till most or all of those who lived near 
this outlet had died or moved away, except one, that he 
mentioned the existence of these springs ; and for a re- 
ward he conducted some persons to the place where they 
are situated. The persons to whom he communicated 
this information endeavored to purchase the favored 
spot before the owner should be apprised of its inesti- 
mable value ; but he accidentally obtained a knowledge 
of his good fortune, and of course refused to sell. ■, 

The Galen spring is a basin situated in a marshy spot, 



TOUR TO NIAGAEA FALLS. 81 

one hundred rods from the outlet. In the centre of the 
basin, the water is commonly ten feet deep. A passage 
for boats has been cut from the basin to the outlet, and 
a perceptible current commonly sets out through this 
passage. It sometimes happens that the surrounding 
marsh, and of course the salt water itself, is overflowed 
by the fresh water from the outlet ; but the fresh water 
and the salt do not seem readily to mix, for the water, 
which is raised from the bottom of the basin by pumps, 
is found, even in times of freshets, to be highly saturated 
with salt, while that upon the surface is altogether fresh. 
In case of a wind, however, the salt water is so diluted 
by a mixture with the fresh as not to be worth working. 
It would not be difficult to construct a dyke or wall 
which would prevent these inundations ; but the pres- 
ent proprietors justly consider this spring, nnder all its 
disadvantages, as an invaluable treasure ; that, if in 
attempting to make it a little more useful or commo- 
dious they should lose it altogether, they would have 
abundant cause of self-reproach ; and that, as they know 
not in which direction the salt water comes, if the}^ were 
to dig between the basin and the outlet for the founda- 
tion of a wall, they might jiossibly break in upon its 
subterraneous channel, and direct the current so as to 
lose it. They therefore think it most prudent to rest 
satisfied with the spring in its present state. 

There is some reason to suspect that the course of 
the salt water is under the bed of the outlet, because 
there is upon the other side of the outlet another salt 
spring, called Smith's ; and it is observed that during 
the prevalence of drought the water of either of the 
springs is not so strongly impregnated with salt as at 



32 JOURNAL OF A 

other times, and that it even becomes so weak as not to 
be worth working. Upon the return of rain, the water 
regains its highly sahne quality, but not under five or 
six days at the Galen spring, and at Smith's in not less 
than five or six weeks. At the Galen spring, eighty to 
one hundred gallons of water commonly yield a bushel 
of salt, weighing fifty-six pounds ; whereas sixty or 
eighty of that at Onondaga will yield the same quantity 
of salt. The water is pumped off into iron pans and 
boiled down, — a process which it requires twelve hours 
to accomplish. The consumption of wood in this manu- 
factorj' is so great that, although the price of it is five 
and sixpence, New York currency, per cord, yet the whole 
expense for that article alone at the Galen spring is five 
thousand dollars per year. At present, the quantity of 
salt manufactured here is about forty bushels a day ; 
but the proprietors are about to increase the quantity, 
which it seems they might do to an unlimited extent. 
The water at the Galen spring is of a thick, brown, 
muddy color in appearance, and smells not unlike bilge- 
water. The marsh in the neighborhood produces hay 
in all respects resembling that which grows on salt 
marshes, except in the salt taste. 

Mr. Rees informed us that he held salt at his works 
at fifty cents per bushel. This is higher than it is 
sometimes to be had at Onondaga. At Onondaga, the 
price is limited, and the weight of the bushel and size 
of the cask are established by law. Besides being free 
from any of these' restrictions, Mr. Eees thinks his 
works are more favorably situated for transportation, 
either to the northward into Lake Ontario, or the 
south-westward by means of Seneca Lake, or going up 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 33 

Lake Ontario, thence by Lake Erie, Michigan, &;c., 
even to the Alleghany River, and by that to Pittsburg. 

Smith's spring generally affords water as highly satu- 
rated with salt as that in Galen. There is yet another 
spring, situated about half a mile below Cayuga Bridge, 
on the Avestern shore of Cayuga Lake, which yields salt 
water. Several attempts have been made to dig a well, 
into which to receive the salt water here, so that it 
might be collected in sufficient quantit}^ to be manu- 
factured. These attempts have hitherto failed on ac- 
count of the quicksands, which have filled the well as 
fast as the workmen could dig it. The owner, however, 
does not yet despair. We saw him going toward the 
spot with several people, to see what measures could be 
taken to bring this spring into operation. 

The existence of these springs in this region is a 
wonderful instance of the benignity of Providence. 
Here, is a fertile and extensive country, capable of con- 
taining an immense population, which is nearly three 
hundred miles from the ocean in the nearest part. If 
the inhabitants were obliged to furnish themselves with 
salt from seawards, an annual supply of that necessary 
article would often cost them more than their bread, 
which could not fail to be a powerful discouragement 
to the settlement of the country. 

1 The road from Cayuga to Geneva is for a few miles 
along the southern or south-eastern side, and the rest 
along the northern or north-eastern side of the Seneca 
outlet. The face of the country near the road is more 
level ; but the soil is more sandy and uninviting than 
we had lately seen, till we approached near to Geneva. 
The land there is excellent, as we were told it was, 



34 JOURNAL or A 

through all the tract which extends between the Cay- 
uga and the Seneca Lakes. This tract rises in a kind 
of regular glacis from each lake, so that from the mid- 
dle of it one can see both. It wants nothing but in- 
habitants and cultivation to make it an elysium. The 
Seneca outlet flows into the lower end of the Cayuga 
Lake. Towards its mouth there is a considerable fall, 
or rather rapid, whicli it is contemplated to lock, 
whereby a water communication will be opened be- 
tween the two lakes. The stream is about half the 
size of the Winnipiseogee, and has a bluish-white 
appearance. 

We Avere within half a mile of Geneva before we 
came in sight of the Seneca Lake. This charming sheet 
of water extends southerly from this place to Catharine 
Town, forty miles, being from two to four miles wide. 
There is not a foot of swamp or marsh on its borders, 
from one extremity to the other ; but it is everywhere 
lined b}^ a clear, gravelly beach, and the land rises from 
it with a very gentle and graceful ascent in every 
direction. 

We were somewhat disappointed in the town of 
Geneva, not so much as to the size of the place, ele- 
gance of the houses, or even beauty of the situation 
considered simply in itself, but as to its relative situa- 
tion with respect to the lake. It stands at tlie north- 
eastern corner, about half a mile from the northern 
extremity of the lake, from which situation there is 
a prospect across, but not lengthwise of, the water. 
Whereas, had the town been built half a mile to the 
north-eastward from its present situation, it would liave 
stood on ground less elevated to be sure, but yet sufli- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 35 

ciently so, and very well calculated for a city ; and, in 
that cas.e, it would have commanded a chai-ming pros- 
pect twenty miles np the lake. We saw above the 
water the masts of a schooner, which lies sunk a1)0ut 
one hundred rods from shore. Mr. Rees, our fellow- 
traveller, we found to he a nephew of Mr. Nicholas, 
lately one of the Virginia representatives in Congress, 
hut who has lately purchased and settled upon an ex- 
tensive tract of excellent land, on the north-eastern 
extremity of the Seneca Lake, near the outlet. Mr. 
Ilees waited upon us some time after our arrival, with 
Mv. Nicholas's compliments and an invitation to call on 
him to tea the next day. Our haste to proceed obliged 
us to decline the invitation. We felt a sensible regret 
at parting with Mr. Rees, whom we had found to be a 
very intelligent, agreeable, and gentlemanly man. 

Cayuga Lake abounds Avith fish, of which the black 
bass are the most esteemed. The Seneca Lake does 
not afford fish in as great plenty, and tliey are therefore 
often brouglit to Geneva from Cayuga. Plaster of Paris 
has lately been discovered at Bath, about fifty miles 
south-westward from Geneva. Iron ore is met with in 
many places in this neigliborhood. 

Not far from Geneva are some of the Indian orchards, 
which were cut down by General Sullivan in his famous 
expedition, scarce less barbarous than those of the sav- 
ages themselves. The trees now growing in these 
orchards sprouted from the roots of those which were" 
cut down, and therefore grow in clusters, six or seven 
rising from one root. We saw Indian fields here free 
from stumj^s, the only ones which are to the westward 
of Utica, except those belonging to the Oneidas. We 



36 JOURNAL OF A 

were told that, at this season of the year, the wind at 
Geneva blows constantly from the sonth in the fore- 
noon, and from the north in the afternoon. We here 
quitted the stage, which runs no further than Canan- 
daigua, and hired an open Dutch wagon and driver, 
and a single horse, to carry us to Niagara.^ , 

July 21st. Our direct course from Geneva would 
have been westward to Canandaigua, sixteen miles ; but 
we deviated from that course, and travelled north-west- 
ward from Geneva, fourteen miles, to the Sulphur 
Springs. For some miles from Geneva, the country is 
fertile and flourishing in a high degree. AVe had now 
reached the flat country, wliich extends with very little 
interruption quite to Lake Erie, upwards of one hundred 
miles. In the town of Phelps, we passed the Flint 
Creek, the bed of which is mostly of limestone, as are 
the beds of almost all the streams in this region. The 
stones here are a kind of composition or pudding stone. 
They look as if they were formed by the fusion of a 
part of their substance, which in hardening has incor- 
porated into the mass a great number of small stones 
which had been already formed. Finding rocks of this 
kind in this level countrjs at a great distance from any 
hill, refutes the notion that they are formed in volcanoes. 
Young orchards, both of peach and apple trees, abound 
and flourish here ; they are in general from three to six 
3'ears old. Peach-trees are the most numerous, but they 
were chiefly without fruit. Notwithstanding that there 
are some considerable streams in the Genesee country, 
yet there are but few compared with the whole extent; 
and, as they generally proceed from lakes, small brooks 
and rills are scarcely to be met wuth. Springs of water, 



TOUR TO NIAGAllA FALLS. 37 

Avliich are so common in New England and other hilly 
countries, are seldom found here, which is probably to 
be ascribed to the flatness of the surface. Where a spring 
does appear, it commonly issnes from the ground at once 
in great force, sufficiently so in some instances to turn a 
mill, at its first emerging ; or, if the quantity of water 
be small, it will disappear after running a little ways. 
Upon the whole, therefore, this tract may be said to be 
but poorly watered ; and some of the settlers complain 
that they are obliged to dig, wells, and snpply-their cat- 
tle from them. The Sulphur Springs are just within 
the limits of Farmington. A swale or valley, of near a 
mile in extent, affords in several places copious springs 
of water, strongly impregnated with sulphur. Two of 
tlie most remarkable we visited : that which affords the 
least water of the two deposits the greatest quantity of 
sulphur ; the other affords water sufficient at the fountain- 
head, constantly, to turn a corn-mill. The water from 
this spring flows six or eight rods down a steep declivity 
or bed of limestone, into a quagmire of an acre or two 
in extent, which is so soft and deep that it is impossible 
to go upon it. 

The bed of the stream through its whole extent, and 
every substance with Avhich the water comes in contact, 
are covered with sulphur, so tliat, although the water itself 
appears to be peifectly pure and limpid, all other objects 
near it are tinged with a sulphureous yellow. In the 
quag at the bottom of the declivity, this color becomes 
gradually more faint ; and we were told that, when 
the stream has flowed about half a mile further, it loses 
all its sulphureous qualities, and becomes perfectly fresh 
and sweet. Several small streams of pure water flow 



38 JOURNAL OF A 

within a few rods of the Sulphur Springs, with which 
they unite some ways below, and then pass off into the 
Canandaigua outlet. The water of these springs is drank 
by invalids as a restorative and tonic. It is said to oper- 
ate as a sudorific and diuretic, and at first, or if taken in 
too great quantity, as a cathartic. The taste is not dis- 
agreeable ; it contains no fixed air, and is about the tem- 
perature of common well-water. It is used also for 
bathing. Mr. Powell, of Geneva, the present proprietor, 
has provided an excellent contrivance for administering 
a shower-bath. It supplies tlie water in great abun- 
dance, and as long as the patient pleases. As far as we 
could judge, from the activity and screaming of several 
Avho made trial of this bath while we were present, its 
effect must be very powerful. 

The atmosphere for a considerable distance around 
these sj^rings is so highly charged with sulphur that it 
smells like damaged gunpowder, or like a foul musket. 
With some people it occasions a nausea, and to most it 
is disagreeable. The sulphur, especially at the second 
spring we visited, lies upon the surface of the ground 
in great quantities, and in a state perfectly pure, except 
•that it adheres to the fibres of moss, which, upon a 
near view, gives the sulphur itself the appearance of 
a vegetable. A kind of small insect, covered with a 
cylindrical shell, somewhat resembling a snail, but much 
less in size, is found attached in great numbers to the 
stones and all other substances, in the streams that flow 
from these springs. Vegetation in this vicinity has the 
same appearance as elsewhere, both as to kind and 
quality. 

Mr. Powell proposes to build a house here for the ac- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 39 

commodation of people going- from the Sulphur Springs. 
We crossed the Canaudaigua outlet, and travelled south- 
westerly^ ten miles to the town of that name, standing 
near the northern extremity of the lake of the same name. 
Most of the land here is of the best quality ; but the 
drought was very severe, the more so, probably, on ac- 
count of the flatness of the country. The Canandaigua 
Lake is not to be compared to the Seneca, either in beauty 
or magnitude ; but the town is more interesting than Ge- 
neva. Here is a large, well-built, brick jail, a court-house, 
used also as a place of public worship, an acadeni}-, 
and a hotel. A hotel was formerly kept under the same 
roof with the jail ; but it was found that this circum- 
stance was disagreeable to most guests, so that the 
scheme was abandoned. The hotel where we stopped 
is kept by Taylor. It is a handsome and commodious 
building, and is well attended. There is plenty of 
oak and some chestnut wood to be met with, after reach- 
ing the small lakes, though we had not seen either for 
some time before. The turnpike road ends at this place. 
The whole length from Albany is two hundred and six 
or seven miles : it may properly be called two turnpikes, 
which join each other at Utica. A project is on foot for 
still extending the turnpike even to Niagara, a direct 
course to which would not probably exceed one hundred 
miles. 

Mr. Rees told us yesterday that he was engaged to 
proceed to-morrow with certain commissioners to mark 
out the course of the road, and that the proprietors Avill 
begin to work upon it next year. The road may not 
be very good propert}^ at first, but will probabl}' soon 
become so, judging from the astonishing rapidity with 



40 JOURNAL OF A 

which this country is settled. It is ascertained that one 
thousand families migrated hither during the last year, 
two thirds of Avhom were from New England, 

To Hall's in Bloomfield, to sleep, twelve miles ; very 
good house. AVe had an excellent supper and clean 
beds. The town of Bloomfield has heen settled about 
fifteen years, and is now in a flourishing state. Here is 
a handsome new meeting-house with a tasty steeple. 
The vane on the steeple is rather whimsical. It is 
a flying angel, blowing a trumpet against the wind. 
Within this town we passed a small creek, Avhich is the 
most westerly water which discharges itself into Lake 
Ontario by the Oswego outlet, b}^ which all the water 
we had yet seen is discharged, which flows into that 
lake. The country which supplies that water is up- 
wards of one hundred miles Avide, as the road goes. 
The growth here is chiefly oak. The soil is good, 
though more hilly and not so luxuriant as we had seen. 
Some of their fields were without trees when the first 
settlers came here, which gives the town the appear- 
ance of an older settlement than it is. Orchards are 
numerous, both of peach and apple trees ; the former, 
which are most numerous, are cultivated for brandy. 
Wild plum-trees are common here. 

The inequalities in the surface of this town afford 
much more distant prospects, than can be had in flat 
ground. From the hill on Avhich the meeting-house 
stands, there is an extensive view in every direction 
except north-westward. This afternoon the wind Avas 
easterly, but it was wholly free from that raw, humid 
quality which an easterly wind possesses on the sea 
coast. The thermometer in the evening Avas 12°, 



TOUR TO KIAGARA FALLS. 41 

although in the morning it had been as low as 54° 
Fahrenheit. 

General Hall, our landlord, told us that a new salt 
spring had been discovered but a few daj-s since, about 
twelve miles to the westward of Genesee River, and as 
much oif of our route. It is on the land of Sir William 
Pultney, and is thoroughly impregnated with salt. He 
told ns also that there was yet another, not far from 
Batavia. This clay, at Canandaigua, I saw Mr. Moore, 
Avhom I had formerly known as an apprentice in Mr. 
Waldo's store in Worcester. He had just returned 
from New Connecticut beyond Lake Erie, Avhere he 
had been with Messrs. Phelps, Mills, and others, making 
a ])urchase of lands of the Indians. Grindstones of a 
good quality are found and manufactured near Lake 
Erie, within one hundred miles of Canandaigua. 

July 22d. To Hosmer's in Hartford, to breakfast, 
twelve and a half miles. Between Bloomfield and 
this, we passed through Charleston, which has but 
recently been reclaimed from tlie wilderness. It is 
perfectly flat, the soil is pretty good, though better, and 
more settled at some distance from the road than near 
it. The reason of cutting the road where it goes was 
because the country in that direction was open, when it 
was first explored, between this place and Lake Ontario, 
which is but twenty-eight miles distant, or to Gerunde- 
gut [now Toronto] Bay, but twentj^-two miles. ' Cider 
was made last year in great quantities ; and a single 
orchard in Charleston produced apples sufficient for one 
hundred barrels, but the owner sold off the apples. 

There is not so plentiful a growth of fruit this year. 
Different kinds of plum-trees, some of which are much 

6 



42 JOURNAL OF A 

esteemed, are found here also in a wild state. We 
crossed in this stage the [here is a break in the MS.] 
lakes, and falls into the Genesee River. 

Deer are plenty here yet. One man not long since 
killed seven without changing his place : one of them 
Avas a doe, and the others bucks. The hunter killed 
the doe first, and the others one by one afterwards : 
when he fired, those he did not kill would start off a 
little ways, but soon return. 

In the town of Pittsford, which adjoins Charleston on 
the north, are the remains of an ancient fort constructed 
with stone and earth, the length of which is upwards of 
one hundred feet. On the walls, trees are now growing 
upAvards of eighteen inches over ; one hundred and fifty 
grains were counted in one which was cut down last 
year. The Indians have no knowledge by whom the 
fort was built. 'Hitherto we have found better roads 
since we left thelurnpike than before, except that the 
bridges and causeways are mostly constructed with 
poles. Hosmer, our landlord, is an intelligent man and 
keeps a good tavern. Vie had for breakfast good coffee, 
excellent tea, loaf sugar, mutton chop, waffles, berry 
pie, preserved berries, excellent bread, butter, and a 
salad of young onions. I mention the particulars, be- 
cause some of the articles, or such a collection, were 
hard-ly to be expected in such a depth of wilderness. 

To Gansen's in Southampton, twelve and a half 
miles, to dine. Within about a mile of Hosmer's, we 
passed the Genesee River. The outlet of the Conesus 
Lake joins this river about a mile above, or to the south. 
Where we crossed, there is a new bridge, apparently 
strong and well built ; and yet the water last spring 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 43 

nnderniiiied one end of it, so that it has sunk considera- 
bl}'. jThe river here is about the size of the Nashua, 
but more rapid. Tlie water is ver}^ muddy, of a chiy or 
ash color. Tlie interval, which is on the west side, is 
more than a mile wide. It belongs to some Indians of 
the Seneca tribe, who live near it in log huts. 

In a time of flood, the water covers the whole inter- 
val. After rising from the interval, the country for six 
or eight miles is one unvaried and almost unbroken 
plain. No cultivation or settlements are to be seen, save 
a few miserable log huts scattered at great distances, 
around which are small patches of cleared ground ; nor 
does the country appear inviting. The growth, it is 
true, is mostly of oak ; but the trees are not large, and 
are few in number. There is an undergrowth of young- 
trees ; but they do not prevent one from seeing, so as to 
distinguish a man in almost any direction, at the distance 
of forty or fifty rods. The soil is thin, intermixed with 
crumbled limestone. In fact, for the last four or five 
miles, the stone rises above ground in large masses, and 
scarce any water is to be seen from the Genesee River to 
this place, except the Big Spring, so called. This is four 
or five rods north of the road, at a place lately called 
Caledonia (although the township of Southampton), in 
consequence of a few Scotch families having erected 
there log huts, where they still live around the spring, 
and a mill is constantly turned by it, without any supply 
from any other quarter. Upon the whole, the country 
between the interval and Gansen's is the most tiresome 
and the poorest we had seen after leaving Utica. While 
we were at dinner, there was a copious shower, attended 
with very heavy thunder. An old man told us that the 
shower came off Lake Erie. 



44 JOURNAL OF A 

I^Gansen's is a miserable log house. We made out to 
obtain an ordinary dinner. Our landlord was drunk, 
the house was crowded with a dozen workmen, reeking 
with rain and sweat, and we were, withal, constantly 
annoyed with the plaintive and frightful cries and 
screams of a crazy Avoman. in the next room. We has- 
tened our departure, therefore, even before the rain had 
ceased. 

To Russell's in Batavia, twelve miles, to sleep. One 
mile from Gansen's, we crossed Allen's Creek, at Butter- 
milk Falls, where there are mills, and five miles further 
the Chookawoonga Creek, near the eastern transit line 
of the Holland purchase. This line extends from the 
bounds of Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, a distance of 
near ninety-four miles. So far, the road was the worst of 
any we had seen ; and none can be much worse and be 
passable for wheels. Within six miles of Batavia, the 
road is much better, and the land of a good quality, 
heavily timbered all the way, but especially near the 
settlement. It is but three years since this spot was first 
cleared, and it is now a considerable village. Here is 
a large building, nearly finished, intended for a court- 
house, jail, and hotel, under the same roof. The street 
is perfectly level, and is already a good and smooth road. 
Here is also an excellent mill, on a large and commo- 
dious scale, situated on the Tonawanda Creek, which is 
•the first water we saw which passes over Niagara Falls. 
Russell's is a poor tavern. We were told that our sheets 
were clean, for they had been slept in but a feiv times 
since they were washed. 

July 23d. To Luke's in Batavia, to breakfast, five 
miles. We intended to have stopped at McCraken's, one 



TOVR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 45 

mile sliort of this, but we were told tliat we could not be 
accommodated. The exterior appearance of both houses 
was very much alike ; tlie,y are log huts, about twelve 
feet square. Luke's consisted of a single room, with a 
small lean-to behind, which served for a kitchen. It 
contained scarce any furniture, not even utensils enough 
to serve us comfortably for breakfast. 'His wife, withal, 
was sick in bed while we were there, and they had next 
to nothing: in the world to eat. With the addition of 
some tea, ham, and bread, which we ourselves had 
•brought, we at length made out a breakfast. 

It Avas but eighteen months since Luke began a settle- 
ment here, and he was the first who made tlie attempt be- 
tween Batavia and Vandevener's, a distance of eighteen 
miles, though in that distance now there are several 
huts. Taverns like Luke's are not uncommon in this 
vicinity ; almost every hut we saw liad a sign hung out 
on a pole or stump, announcing that it was an inn. 
Perhaps such complete poverty did not exist in them all 
as we found at Luke's, yet, judging from external ap- 
pearances, the difference could not be great. 

We passed the Tonawanda near Batavia court-house, 
and then kept along its southern bank to this place. 
The woods are full of new settlers. Axes Avere re- 
sounding, and the trees literally falling al)out us as we 
passed. In one instance, we were obliged to pass in a 
field through the smoke and flame of the trees wluch 
had lately been felled and were just fired. 

To Vandevener's in Willink, thirteen miles. We had 
intended only to dine here ; but by reason of a thunder 
shower, and the temptation of comfortable accommoda- 
tions, Ave concluded not to proceed till next da}^ Our 



44 JOURNAL OF A 

i^Gansen's is a miserable log house. We made out to 
obtain an ordinary dinner. Our landlord was drunk, 
the house was crowded with a dozen workmen, reeking 
with rain and sweat, and we were, withal, constantly 
annoyed with the plaintive and frightful cries and 
screams of a crazy woman, in the next room. We has- 
tened our departure, therefore, even before the rain had 
ceased. 

To Russell's in Batavia, twelve miles, to sleep. One 
mile from Gansen's, we crossed Allen's Creek, at Butter- 
milk Falls, where there are mills, and five miles further 
the Chookawoonga Creek, near the eastern transit line 
of the Holland purchase. This line extends from the 
bounds of Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, a distance of 
near ninety-four miles. So far, the road was the worst of 
any we had seen ; and none can be much worse and be 
passable for wheels. Within six miles of Batavia, the 
road is much better, and the land of a good quality, 
heavily timbered all the way, but especially near the 
settlement. It is but three years since this spot was first 
cleared, and it is now a considerable village. Here is 
a large building, nearlj^ finished, intended for a court- 
house, jail, and hotel, under the same roof. The street 
is perfectly level, and is alread}'- a good and smooth road. 
Here is also an excellent mill, on a large and commo- 
dious scale, situated on the Tonawanda Creek, which is 
•the first water we saw which passes over Niagara Falls. 
Russell's is a poor tavern. We were told that our sheets 
were clean, for they had been slept in but a feiv times 
since they were washed. 

July 23d. To Luke's in Batavia, to breakfast, five 
miles. We intended to have stopped at McCraken's, one 



TOUR TO NIAGAIIA FALLS. 45 

mile short of this, but we were told that we could not be 
accommodated. The exterior a^jpearance of both houses 
was very much alike ; they are log huts, about twelve 
feet square. Luke's consisted of a single room, with a 
small lean-to behind, which served for a kitchen. It 
contained scarce any furniture, not even utensils enough 
to serve us comfortably for breakfast. His wife, withal, 
was sick in bed while we were there, and thej^ had next 
to nothing in the world to eat. With the addition of 
some tea, ham, and bread, which we ourselves had 
•brought, we at length made out a breakfast. 

It was but eighteen months since Luke began a settle- 
ment here, and he was the first who made the attempt be- 
tween Batavia and Vandevener's, a distance of eighteen 
miles, though in that distance now there are several 
huts. Taverns like Luke's are not uncommon in this 
vicinity ; almost every hut we saw had a sign hung out 
on a pole or stump, announcing that it was an inn. 
Perhaps such complete poverty did not exist in them all 
as we found at Luke's, jet, judging from external ap- 
pearances, the difference could not be great. 

We passed the Tonawanda near Batavia court-house, 
and then kept along its southern bank to this place. 
The woods are full of new settlers. Axes were re- 
sounding, and the trees literally falling about us as we 
passed. In one instance, we were obliged to pass in a 
field through the smoke and flame of the trees which 
had lately been felled and were just fired. 

To Vandevener's in Willink, thirteen miles. We had 
intended only to dine here ; but by reason of a thunder 
shower, and the temptation of comfortable accommoda- 
tions, we concluded not to proceed till next da}^ Our 



46 JOURNAL OF A 

last stage was through the Batavia woods, famed for their 
liorrors, which were not abated by our having been in- 
formed at Russell's, that not far from here a white man 
had lately been killed by the Indians. We found the 
road much better than we had anticipated ; the last four 
miles were the worst. A little labor would make the road 
all very good, at least in dry weather. There is another 
way to come from Batavia here ; but it is six miles fur- 
ther, and probably little or no better than this. 

It was but three years since Vandevener began here. 
He at first built a log house, but he has now a two-story 
framed house, adjoining that. His whole territory is five 
hundred acres, one hundred of which he has alread}' got 
under improvement.! About five miles before coming to 
Vandevener's, we passed Murder Creek, which soon 
after falls into the Tonawanda. In the beds of both these 
creeks, we found a dark-colored, slate-like stone, which, 
upon being fresh broken, afforded a strong sea-coal or 
amber smell, but more fetid. When much heated, it 
affords a pitchy flame. It is called stink stone. The 
timber in these woods is ver}^ heavy, and consists chiefly 
of oak, ash, elm, hemlock, birch, rock-maple, and bass, 
or lime-tree. 

About thirty rods westward from Vandevener's, the 
road passes in a longitudinal direction directly through 
the remains of an ancient fort, the site of which is about 
four hundred and fifty feet long, and perhaps two thirds 
as wide. The wall or mound of earth and stone with 
which it Was constructed is now nearly entire, except 
where passages have been cut for the road, and where 
a part of it has been levelled to make a garden spot, 
near a loer house which stands within it. A ditch runs 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 47 

all round the Avail on the outside, except at the gates 
of which there were four, facing- the four cardinal points. 
Where the road is cut through the wall, we observed 
pieces of charcoal, and, turning up the fresh earth with 
the foot, we discovered some that had not before been 
uncovered. The growth of timber within and even on 
the wall is the same as elsewhere. "We counted the 
grains of an oak which grew exactly upon the summit, 
to the number of one hundred and thirty ; and of a but- 
ton-wood, which had stood near the summit, to a much 
greater numl)er, although a considerable part of the 
wood, near the heart of the tree, was decaj^ed and gone. 
The whole enclosure is about three acres. 

Similar remains are said to be found in several other 
places in this region, some of which are of much greater 
dimensions. There is one in particular at the Chestnut 
Ilidge, so called, about fifteen miles north-eastward from 
this place, which encloses sixteen acres. These forts 
are all situated on a ridge or precipice, which extends 
from the south-west to the north-east, the limits of 
which have perhaps never been ascertained. It passes 
along in front, i.e. to the north, from Vandevener's house, 
at the distance of about thirty rods ; and he informed us 
that it extended eastward to the Chestnut Ridge, and 
that it there divided, one branch going from thence to 
Queenstown, on Niagara River westwardly, where the 
great falls are supposed once to have been, and the 
other passing on still eastward, and intersecting the 
Genesee River, at the remarkable falls in that stream. 
He added that the same ridge was traced westward to 
within tliree, two, and even half a mile of Lake Erie, 
of whieli it seemed to constitute a second shore. AVe 



48 JOURNAL OF A 

examined the ridge near Vandevener's house, and found 
it to be but a few feet above the level of the country 
immediately southward from it ; but to the north it is 
a precipice of nearly one hundred feet high, about half 
of which is generally perpendicular for twenty feet or 
more from the sunnnit downwards. This ridge is a 
mass of solid limestone, somewhat projecting over, and 
exhibiting the usual appearance of rock which had for 
a great length of time been worn hy the dashing of the 
water. On digging a foot, or two, or three, into the 
ground at the bottom of the precipice, you everywhere 
find clean beach sand, such as is found on the beach of 
the lakes. Most of the rock seems to be composed of 
the petrified shells, and even of the very substance, of 
shell-fish. These petrifactions are not only to be seen 
on the surface, but we found them in the very substance 
of large stones, which we broke for that purpose. From 
the foot of the precipice the surface of the earth still 
descends considerably for near half a mile, and from 
thence the face of the country is generally level to 
Niagara River. If water once flowed up to this preci- 
pice, as from appearances which it exhibits cannot be 
doubted, the forts before spoken of were all commo- 
diously situated on peninsulas or points of land project- 
ing into the Avater, and having each a communication 
with the main by a neck of land. 

The necessary inference from these facts seems to be 
that the Falls of Niagara were once at Queenstown, and 
tliat they have not only receded seven or eight miles to 
their present site, but that they are now much less than 
they originally were ; that by forcing away a part of 
tlie rock by which they were once confined, they have 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 49 

flowed off SO as to drain the country from this ridge to 
the present shore of Lake Erie ; and, if the lake has sub- 
sided, Lakes Huron and Michigan, being now upon the 
same level, must have undergone the same change. 
This event must have happened a great length of time 
ago. 

The growth of timber where the water must once 
have flowed is now the same, both as to kind and size, 
as elsewhere ; and the soil where the beach originally 
was is now from one to three feet deep above the sand. 

No tradition exists among the Indians upon this sub- 
ject. They are wholly ignorant as to the origin and 
particular use of the forts, and express equal surprise 
upon the subject with the whites. Their existence 
before the draining off of the water may possibly be 
thought to prove the peopling of this country at a 
period much earlier than has commonly been assigned 
to that event. 

[_July 23cl. To Ransom's in Erie, to breakfast, four- 
teen miles. Ransom came from Great Barrington in 
Massachusetts, and settled here last September. Mak- 
ing proper allowances, we fared very well at his house. 
About two and a half miles after leaving Vandeve- 
ner's, we descended the ridge spoken of in yesterday's 
journal, and, having travelled about half a mile on lower 
ground, ascended it again. The appearance of it at both 
these places confirmed the opinion already formed re- 
specting it. We next came to a plain, extending with 
very little interruption to Ellicott's, on Twelve Mile 
Creek. 

This plain, when first explored, was, and still con- 
tinues to be, remarkably free from trees. Hundreds of 



52 JOURNAL OF A 

and rather hilly. On account of the woods, the lake is 
not to be seen by a traveller from the east, till he comes 
within about a mile of the beach. Fatigued as such a 
one must long have been with the narrow and dreary 
scenes presented by a cheerless wilderness, it must be 
difficult to refrain from expressions of rapture at the 
noble prospect which here expands to his view. On 
the southern shore, we could discern distant promonto- 
ries and high lands, which advance pretty far into tlie 
lake, but are at length lost in the south-west ; from 
thence to the north-west, the horizon is formed by the 
union of the sky and water. Towards the outlet, the 
northern or Canada shore, with the British Fort Erie, 
is in full view. Five or six vessels were lying in the 
harbor, near the fort, when we were there. On account 
of a shower that had fallen the day before, their sails 
were extended to dry. One of them was a twenty gun 
ship, whose tall masts and swelling canvas seemed to 
announce a conscious pride in navigating inland seas of 
such extent. 

It has been a generally received opinion, especially 
among foreign naturalists, that flint was not a pi'oduc- 
tion of the American continent : we met with it, how- 
ever, in large masses on the beach of Lake Erie, and of 
an excellent quality. An old Indian told us that there 
people used it for their guns, and that it was surer to 
strike fire than the imported flint, whi^h he said was 
greasy. We here also found great quantities of clean, 
shining, red and black sand, proper for stationers' use. 
Thirty or forty miles up the Buffalo Creek, there are oil 
stones, so called. They lie loose, like other stones, on 
the surface of the earth, some of them weighing forty 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 53 

pounds. The under side appears greasy. On breaking 
them, an oil appears to be contained in little cells within 
the stone, not in a liquid state, but of the consistence of 
hog's lard ; it has a strong fetid smell. The oil is not to 
be collected from these stones in any considerable quan- 
tities ; but if it be the petroleum, which is found in the 
farther peninsula of India, and in some parts of Europe, 
it might probably be obtained in greater abundance by 
sinking wells for it to collect in, as is practised in those 
countries. 

[From Buffalo we passed along the beach of Lake 
Erie, to the ferry across its outlet on the Niagara River, 
at Black Rock, so called, 'three miles. / We were here 
detained more than an hour, waiting the pleasure of the 
ferryman ; he was at his liouse, about a mile down the 
river. As he well knew we could not pass without his 
assistance, he probably concluded that he should lose 
nothing by delay. When at length he arrived, we were 
almost deterred from attempting the passage on account 
of the wretched machine in which we were to be trans- 
ported. It was a crazy flat-bottomed boat, with low 
sides, constructed at first of thin plank, and which had 
apparently begun to decay. In this slender vehicle, 
navigated by~a drunken Irishman, who commanded an 
Indian and a negro wench, who seemed to be much the 
ablest hand of the three, were to be consigned ourselves, 
with our driver, horses, wagon, and loading, across the 
most formidable ferry, perhaps, in the world ; a stream 
three quarters of a mile wide, twenty or thirty feet deep, 
and running at the rate of five miles an hour. Having 
no alternative, however, we embarked. Fortunately, a 
fresh breeze was blowing up-stream, which, by the means 



54 JOURNAL OF A 

of a ragged sail fastened to a pole, enabled us not only 
to resist the current, but to make such j)rogress that in 
nine minutes we reached the opposite shore in safety. 
We Avere now, for tlie first time with all of us but one, 
in the British dominions. After landing, we passed 
down the river about a mile. To Wintermote's, to dine ; 
from Black Rock, two miles. The mistress of the house 
expressed her regret that she could not accommodate us 
better, but by way of excuse said that the soldiers had 
breakfasted there, and had eaten them out. We after- 
wards learned that the soldiers she spoke of were a body 
of fresh troops, passing up to relieve some of the garri- 
sons beyond Lake Erie. We'were served with the water 
of the river to drink with our dinner, and now learned 
for the first time that the inhal)itants of these regions 
use no other. The water is remarkably pure and pala- 
table. When we first tasted it, the temperature, which 
Avas upwards of 70°, made it rather unpleasant; but, 
four or five liours afterwards, we drank it cooled with 
ice, and found it very grateful. 

From Wintermote's, we travelled down the river to 
Stevens's at Chippewa}', a very good liouse, fifteen miles. 
Xhe road lies all the way on the river bank. Two or 
three miles below Black Rock, the water divides, and 
having encompassed an island, called " Grand Isle," 
which is two or three miles wide and six or eight long, 
it again unites some ways above Chippeway. From this 
reunion, the stream for several miles is near two miles 
in width, and flows with an uncommonly graceful and 
majestic current. Riding along its shore, the mind ele- 
vated and expanded by its magnitude and rapidity, con- 
templates with wonder the mighty operations of nature. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 55 

The atmosphere by evaporation, a process which has 
never yet been satisfactorily exphiined, silently drinks 
her fill from the • ocean, and then through countless 
pores discharges the liquid treasure on the earth. Grav- 
ity is ever busy in collecting the scattered drops, and 
restoring them to the abyss from whence they fii'st as- 
cended. Certain as we are of the causes, it requires an 
effort of the imagination to conceive how they can pro- 
duce effects so great and uniform, that the immense 
lakes of Canada were once floating vapors, and the vast 
tribute which they constantly pay to the ocean has in 
the form of clouds been the sport of inconstant winds. 

Nothing impresses the mind with a more lively idea 
of the extent of the great lakes than the uniformit}'" 
of their elevation, which is not perceptibly affected by 
rains or droughts. So severe was the drought this sum- 
mer, that we saw young forest trees, fifteen or twenty 
feet high, in the neighborhood of Buffalo Creek, where 
the soil was thin upon a bed of rock, which had actually 
perished for want of moisture, and yet the lake and 
river were at their usual height. Indeed, Ave were ex- 
pressly told that this height was never known to vary, 
unless affected by the wind. 

The general course of the Niagara River is one or two 
points to the westward of north. The land on its shores 
is fertile, but a little elevated above the water, and 
generally level. The American shore is yet a wilder- 
ness; but the British side is settled and cleared all the 
way, to the depth of about one hundred rods from the 
river bank. The Chippeway is in size about half as large 
as the Merrimack ; the land on its banks, we were told, is 
uncommonly good, and settled for thirtj^ miles or more 



5G JOURNAL OF A 

in length. The waters of tlie Chippeway are foul and 
dark-colored, and mix so reluctantly with tlie pure water 
of the Niagara that the difference may be discovered 
some waj'S Lelow their junction. 

The village at the mouth of the Chippeway would 
have been more advantageously situated a few rods 
further south ; for, as the inhabitants use none but 
river water, and as most of them live below the Chippe- 
way, they must cross over that stream, or go off some 
ways into the Niagara in a boat, to get their water jiure. 
The familiar name of this village among the inhabitants 
is Chippeway, but the legal name of the place is Stamford. 

As we travelled this afternoon, we frequently stopped 
and listened, in expectation of hearing the noise of the 
Great Falls, but we could not hear them more than four 
or five miles off. It is said in certain states of the at- 
mospliere they can be heard at the distance of thirty or 
forty miles. We discerned the small cloud of spray 
wliich rises over them at the distance of ten miles. It was 
after sunset when we reached Chippeway. Therefore, as 
the cataract is two and a half miles below, we were 
obliged to defer our visit till the morning. It required 
. an effort of patience to do this, for our curiosity increased 
with our proximity. 

July 25th. Haying taken breakfast, and provided 
ourselves with a guide and also a little brandy and cold 
ham, and other means of refreshment, Ave proceeded 
down the river. One of our company mentioned the 
remark of a celebrated traveller, that, on approaching 
the city of Rome, he felt an involuntary inclination to 
run, lest otherwise the object should disappear before 
his curiosity could be gratified. We realized a similar 



TOUR TO NIAGAEA FALLS. 57 

eagerness in approaching the Cataract of Niagara, and 
did not therefore at the first visit pay so minute an atten- 
tion to intermediate objects as we did afterwards. The 
river is near two miles wide, till it comes within a mile 
and a half of the perpendicular fall. It then begins to 
contract and to increase in its rapidity. A branch on 
the eastern side, called the Fort Schlosser branch, is de- 
tached from the main stream by an island of consider- 
able extent, situated in the very rapids, and does not 
reunite till it has reached the bottom of the precipice. 
Besides this island, which contains several acrds of land 
covered with wood, there are six or eight others in the 
rapids, which are much smaller, and having but little 
vegetation on them, being sand-banks, occasioned prob- 
ably b}" the particular form or situation of the ledges of 
rocks. A small branch of the river bends into the main- 
land on the western shore, round one of these islands, 
in such a manner as to abate something of the velocity 
of the current, and afford seats for a number of mills 
which are erected there, and which might be said to be 
advantageously situated, were it not that they are one 
or two hundred feet lower than the surface of the sur- 
rounding country, and that the passage to and from 
them is rendered very difficult by the abruptness of the 
declivity at the foot of which they stand. This branch 
of the river forms almost a semi-circle, and joins the 
main stream again about fifty rods above the cataract. 
The rapids between the great island and the eastern 
shore are about a mile in extent. Considered either 
across or lengthwa^'s of the current, that whole extent 
is a scene of tumult and uproar. The water is broken 
into milk-white foam, which is tossed in spray by the 



58 JOURNAL OF A 

conflicting billows many feet into the air. So great is 
the concussion against the rocks on the opposite side, 
that we conld discern a constant cloud of vapor ascend- 
ing from the shore. 

The grandeur of this scene is only to be exceeded by 
the ocean, in some of its wildest moods ; and, were there 
nothing else in the vicinity Avorthy of attention, this 
alone would be resorted to from great distances by the 
curious, as a just subject of wonder and astonishment. 

The descent in these rapids is computed at fifty feet. 
Having surmounted this difficulty, the river becomes 
more calm and collected, as if conscious of the achieve- 
ment it was about to perform. At length contracting 
to less than half its former width, it rushes with fearless 
impetuosity over a perpendicular precipice, one hundred 
and forty feet. This descent has been variously esti- 
mated. It was fashionable a century ago greatly to 
exaggerate it ; and the affected precision of some modern 
travellers, who state it at one hundred, and thirty-seven 
feet, some of whom even give a fraction of a foot, is 
perfectly absurd. The calculation does not admit of 
accuracy, owing not so much to the agitation of the 
waters as to the thick cloud, of spray and vapor, which 
conceal from the sight not only the place of concussion, 
but a considerable part of the falling column. We were 
well satisfied, from our own observation, that one hun- 
dred and forty feet could not be far from the truth ; 
and perhaps there are as many who would exceed as 
there are who would fall short of that estimate. 

The depth of the water in the abyss below can never 
be ascertained, but the deep thunder which proceeds 
from it proves it to be very great. The form of the 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 59 

I)riiicipal fall, which is called the Horseshoe, is well 
expressed by that name, except that the angle which 
projects np-stream is more acute than that formed at 
the toe of the Horseshoe, and, as we were informed, is 
even more acute than it was one year ago. On the 
western bank, just at the water's edge above the cata- 
ract, is a large flat rock called the Table Rock, which at 
some period made a part of the river's bed, and from 
whence one has a very commanding view of the rapids 
above, and of all the falls below, except the nearest 
fall. The depth to which the water falls is so great 
that part of it is concealed from tlie view, before it 
reaches the bottom, by the rock itself. AVe all of us 
made several attempts to throw a stone from this rock 
so far into the water below that we might see it strike, 
but none of us could effect it. 

The Table Rock affords almost a faint view of the 
" Fort Schlosser Fall," so called, which is beyond the 
island on the eastern side of the river. Tlie water in 
that fall is of a snowy whiteness, more so than at 
the Horseshoe, because, though the quantity is probably 
not a quarter part so great, yet it is full half as wide. 
The fall there, too, is twenty feet greater, and is more 
exactly perpendicular, because the water descends less in 
the rapids above, and therefore approaches the precipice 
with less velocity. Following the edge of the precipice 
from shore to shore, the whole extent is about a mile ; 
two parts of which are occupied by the Horseshoe, one 
by the island, and one by the Fort Schlosser Fall. The 
distance directly across is not probably more than two 
thirds as far. 

The lower side of the island, which coincides with the 



60 JOUKNAL OF A 

line of the falls, is of the same perpendicular elevation, 
and of solid rock. Having, according to custom, exam- 
ined this wonderful phenomenon from the Table Rock, 
we proceeded down the river to tlie place where, by the 
help of a ladder, it is practicable to descend to the edge 
of the water below the fall. To comprehend this diffi- 
culty, one must know that from the foot of the fall to 
the village of Queenstowii, seven or eight miles down- 
stream, the river flows in a kind of canal or trench, the 
banks or sides of which are of solid rock, of the same 
elevation at first as the precipice at the fall, and this 
elevation gradually increases as the water sinks in its 
course. These banks some ways from the bottom are 
perpendicular, but near the top they project towards 
the river so much that the Table Rock itself is thought 
to extend near four rods beyond the sides of the rock 
which supports it underneath. 

The ladder above mentioned is called the Simcoe 
Ladder, because it was provided by order of the lady of 
the late governor of that name. It is situated about 
three quarters of a mile below the Table Rock, at a place 
where the bank does not project so much as at most 
other places, and where there is a mass of the fallen 
rock for its foot to rest on, from whence one may make 
his way to the river. The passage of this ladder is by 
some thought to be so perilous that they forego their 
curiosity rather than attempt it. This actually hap- 
pened with a gentleman who was there about an hour 
before us. The ladder is placed edgeways against the 
bank, a little declining from a perpendicular direction. 
It is but poorly secured to some small trees at the top 
by pieces of old iron hoops, and the bottom rests on a 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 61 

rock. After 3'ou have descended a few- feet, you per- 
ceive that the bank from whence 3^011 stepped on the 
ladder projects, and that 3'on seem to be suspended in 
the air. From the foot of the hvdder, the approach to 
the foot of the falls is rendered extremely difficult \)y 
the immense and irregular masses of rock which have 
fallen from the side, and a guide is necessary to conduct 
3^ou. For notwithstanding that the fall for the most 
part is full in view, 3'et the path is sometimes through 
fissures of rock or between detached fragments, from 
wlience a stranger would find it difficult to extricate 
himself; and, should he deviate too much towards the 
river, he would be in danger, from the slippery state of 
the rocks occasioned by the spra3% of falling into the 
water. 

The l)each, if it may be called such, is from one to 
ten rods wide, and consists entirely of loose locks. The 
passage along this beach would be comparatively pleas- 
ant, were it not for the distressing a[)prehension, which 
it is impossible to suppress, that other fragments of the 
rock may fall from the precipice over 3'our head, Avhile 
you are passing. The I'ock which constitutes the bank 
is disposed in strata, the upper and principal of which 
are of limestone, otliers are of slate, no freestone or 
granite. Man3^ other mineral substances are to be ob- 
served in it ; and streams of pure snlphur ooze from 
crevices of the rock in several places, and leave a yel- 
low concretion on the wall from thence to the bottom. 

Having, while 3'et at a good distance, prepared our- 
selves to be wet, by leaving all our surplus clothing on 
a rock, we proceeded towards the foot of the rock. Our 
first attempt was to ascertain how far it was practicable, 



62 JOURNAL OF A 

as some travellers have affected to get between the fall- 
ing water and the rock behind it. We accordingly 
passed along close to the perpendicular side, as far as 
we thought it prudent, much further than it was con- 
venient, and we believed as far, at least within a very 
few feet, as it is practicable to go. We might, perhaps, 
with propriety say that the very edge, the feather edge of 
tlie water, poured over our heads, and fell in front of us. 
But the spray was as profuse as rain in the most copious 
showers ; and a storm of wind, which perpetually rushes 
from behind the falling column, once deprived us of 
breath by its violence, and of sight, by dashing the water 
into our eyes. We could perceive, however, behind the 
column it was dark, and we were moreover treading 
upon a shelving mass of crumbled slate, Avhich woldd 
scarcely support us, which was so mixed with the water 
that live eels* were actnally moving about between our 
feet, and a false step, or sudden precipice which we might 
not be able to discern, would have plunged us where 
nothing could liave saved us from instant destruction. 
From these considerations, it Avill readily be believed 
that not many adventurers have proceeded further, 
and none much further, than we did ; and, as it could 
not witli any propriety of speech be said that we were 
between the river and the rock over which it pours, by 
several rods, it may safely be affirmed that such a notion 
is altogether chimerical. Indeed, were there a firm foun- 
dation to travel on behind the water, and could one with 
safety be placed there, it would require a miracle to pre- 

* IMajor Williams picked up one of these eels, and brought it away in 
his pocket. Thej' were small and liglit-colored, and seemingly of a very 
delicate texture. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 63 

vent his being immediately snffocated. Being satisfied, 
therefore, upon this point, we retired ont of the reach 
of the tempest, to a phice wliere we could leisurely con- 
template the scene around us. When the wind is favor- 
able for driving off the cloud which rises from. the centi-e 
of the Horseshoe, much more of the cataract may be 
seen than at other times. The wind was not in the 
most favorable state while we were there. The view, 
nevertheless, was exceeding grand and impressive, much 
more so than from the Table Rock. Above, it is true, you 
can see the Avhole descent of the Avater, by observing a 
part of the column at some distance from you ; but tliat 
distance diminishes its apparent height and velocity, and 
below, you see with most distinctness that part of the 
column which is neai-est to you, and which falls almost 
at 3'our feet. 

Above, therefore, you can hardly persuade yourself 
that the fall is so great as it is, but below, the river 
seems literally to proceed out from the clouds. The 
noise also, which upon the Table Hock is a heavy roar, is 
so intense below that it is difficult to carry on conversa- 
tion. There is in it a peculiar hurry and vehemence, 
and it is said by some to communicate a tremulous mo- 
tion to the surrounding country. Besides the dense 
cloud which ascends from the bottom of the Horseshoe, 
there is a vapor and mist continually falling, to the dis- 
tance of one hundred rods, so that at all times when the 
sun shines you may here see a rainbow. Considerable 
quantities of lumber, which had come over the fall from 
the saw-mills above, Avere cast up among the rocks on 
the shore. They were rounded and smoothed on all sides, 
much like the under surface of a wooden sled-runner, 



64 JOURNAL OF A 

when nearly worn out. We had been told that the car- 
casses of dead fish which had perished in the fall were to 
be found strewed along the shore. We saw none such. 
We met with dead and putrid fish upon the rocks in many 
places, Ijut they had been caught by fishermen, and had 
probably been left by accident. We saw several persons 
angling there for the white and black bass, who appeared 
to be pretty successful. 

Men and other animals who have been known to be 
carried over the falls have never been discovered after- 
wards. We were told that, the week before we were 
there, an old squaw, in a fit of derangement, folded her- 
self up in her blanket, and committed herself to the cur- 
rent some ways above ; that she was soon after seen in 
the rapids, and never since. She must have perished 
before she reached the precipice. 

Although the opposite or Fort Schlosser Fall is the 
loftiest, yet in majesty and grandeur it yields so entirely 
to the other that it is for some time difficult to bestow 
any attention on it ; alone, it would be accounted a won- 
der. The general course of the water at the falls is 
north-west: as soon as it strikes the bottom, it inclines 
to tlie north-east, and continues that direction about a 
mile and a half, where it again bends more to the west- 
ward, and passes out of sight. The stream is so con- 
tracted below the fall that you can hardly persuade 
3'ourself that it is all there. The water, which at first 
is of a milk}' whiteness, does not resume its natural 
color in less than half a mile. Even then, its agitation 
and the air which has escaped from it give it the ap- 
pearance of boiling. At length, however, as if fatigued 
Avith his exertions, the river assumes a more calm and 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 65 

settled appearance, and indulges a seemingly needful 
repose, as if conscious he has performed his capital 
exploit, and that he never can hope to exhibit himself 
to so much advantage again, he withdraws from public 
observation, and conceals himself in a narrow channel, 
which he had excavated through the solid rock for that 
purpose, till he arrives at Queenstown. There, unwill- 
ing to remain longer useless, he comes forth once more 
into an open country, and permits himself to be familiarly 
approached. He generously expands to receive such 
burdens as mankind choose to place on his bosom, and 
conveys them with an easy dignity, till he resigns up all 
to Lake Ontario. 

It is often inquired how near to Niagara Falls it is 
safe to cross the river. The river above, I answer, it 
may be said from the mouth of the Chippeway, which 
is less than three miles, the inhabitants make no scruple 
to pass ; and, in fact, Chippeway is the landing-place 
where bateaux to and from Lake Erie receive and dis- 
charge their loading. 

Some caution, however, is required in securing boats 
at this landing, so as to prevent their being drawn off 
into the stream. We were told of two Frenchmen who 
had fallen asleep in their boat at Chippeway, but the 
boat, b}^ some accident, getting adrift, when they awaked 
they found themselves in the canal leading to the saw- 
mills by the side of the rapids. It is not prudent, if 
practicable, to attempt to navigate the river much lower 
than Chippeway. Formerly, it was not uncommon to 
cross from the eastern shore to the head of the island 
which divides the falls, and man}' people in the vicinity 
remember when sheep were pastured on that island as 

9 



66 JOURNAL OF A 

a place of security. At tliis time, however, an attempt 
to pass to it would be attended Avith imminent hazard, 
and it is much to be doubted whether it would be pos- 
sible to return. 

Friday, July 26th. The land in the vicinity of Chip- 
peway is very fertile and easily cultivated. Stevens, 
our landlord, who is an emigrant from Connecticut, 
comj)lained of the chea2:)ness of provisions there, as a 
discouragement to the settlement. He said that last 
year wheat was but three York shillings a bushel {i.e. 
thirty-seven and a half cents), and that he was afraid 
it would not be more than two shillings this year. He 
further said the inhabitants of Canada entertained such 
a prejudice against the people of the United States 
as effectually precluded all intercourse with them, and 
that it would be difficult to persuade a Canadian French- 
man that, if he were to attempt to carry his [)roduce or 
drive his cattle into the States for a market, he would 
not be robbed and murdered. 

Stevens's objection can apply only to a man who, like 
himself, wishes to amass an estate by agriculture ; but, in 
the language of a barber Avhom we met with at Geneva, 
that must surely be a good country for the poor man 
where bread is cheap. In short, as all this region affords 
the necessaries of life, excellent in quality and abundant 
in quantity, with little labor, it does not require the gift of 
prophec}^ to foretell that in process of time it will swarm 
with inhabitants. There is here a block-house and a 
small garrison of British troops ; there is also a garrison 
at Fort Erie, about eighteen miles above, and another at 
Niagara, the same distance below. 

After taking an eaily dinner, we resumed our journey. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 67 

Passing by the rapids, we left the wagon, and took a 
nearer view of them than we had done the preceding 
day, by descending to the water's edge. We here real- 
ized what travellers have often mentioned, that, upon 
every review of any part of the Falls of Niagara, one's 
admiration is increased. From Chippeway to Queens- 
town is eleven miles. After passing the Falls, the river 
is not to be seen from the road for seven or eight miles, 
although it cannot be at any considerable distance. The 
face of the countr}', as tlie road goes, the whole length 
from Lake Erie to Queenstown, is remarkably level, and 
certainly has no perceptible descent. At the latter place, 
however, it falls at once, as much and more than the 
road by the side of the Great Falls, to the surface of the 
water below them. This consideration, with others be- 
fore mentioned, and the appearance of the river banks 
just where it emerges from its confinement, leave no 
doubt on the mind that here was once the Cataract. 

The banks exiiibit several strata of rock, worn through 
perpendicularly by the violence of the current ; and a 
regular glacis or gradation of descent, from ledge to 
ledge, to the surface of the bank in the village. The 
Cataract must therefore originally have been a series of 
cascades. The river at this place is not more than a 
quarter of a mile wide ; an eddy sets back on eacli side ; 
the current, nevertheless, is not more rapid than in many 
other places where it is six times as wide. Therefore, the 
water must here be very deep, which indeed is a neces- 
sary consequence of the force with which the torrent 
formerly descended from the precipice above. We un- 
derstood that some attempts had been made last Avinter 
through the ice to measure this depth, and that it was 



68 JOURNAL OF A 

found to exceed sixty fathoms ; but it was doubtful, at 
last, whether the bottom had been ascertained. 

The ridge Avhich forms the precipice goes off both 
eastward and westward, at right angles from the river, 
to an unknown distance. From the eminence, just be- 
fore we descended into the village of Queenstown, we 
first had a prospect of Lake Ontario stretching in front 
of us, and forming the horizon from north-west to north- 
east. We could also distinctly trace the river, passing 
into the lake between the town of Niagara on the west 
and the American fort of the same name on the east 
bank, and perceived that the schooner, in which by 
sending a messenger forward we had engaged our j^as- 
sage over the lake, and which we had expected to find 
at Queenstown, was under sail down the river. We 
knew that she was to stop at Niagara, and that she 
would wait for us there till the next morning, 3'et we 
were apprehensive that, if a fair wind should spring up 
in the night, she might put off before that time without 
us ; and, as the accommodations at Queenstown did not 
appear inviting, we stopped there but a few minutes, and 
then pursued our journey to Niagara, seven miles, to 
Gilbert's Hotel. 

The town of Niagara will probably in a few years 
become a place of importance. It is bounded on the 
east by the river, and on the north by the lake. The 
surface of the surrounding country is level, and the soil 
appears to be tolerably good. The town is laid out into 
streets and squares, and the population is already con- 
siderable. A few years since, it was the seat of govern- 
ment ; but, it being found not to be so central a situation 
with respect to the Province as the other side of the 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 69 

lake, the public offices and assemblies have heen lately 
transferred to York. The southern shore of the lake is 
very regular, and almost exactly east and west. From 
the cape formed by the eastern bank of the river, a 
bar runs off in a north-westerly direction two or three 
miles, which has been the occasion of frequent acci- 
dents. We were told that not many years since a ves- 
sel sailed from the river, that the captain and most of 
the crew had been drinking freely, and in a sudden gale 
she soon, with a company of soldiers on board, struck 
on this bar, and went to pieces in sight of the town, and 
that every person on board perished. To prevent dis- 
asters on this bar in the night, a stone light-house has 
been erected on the banks of the lake, and which 
answers the purpose at a very trilling expense. 

Saturday, July 27th. We Avere better fed than lodged 
at the hotel, on account of the number of guests whom 
we found there. Among others, we here overtook Dr. 
Woodhouse of Philadelphia, and Mr. Gilmore of Balti- 
more, who were prosecuting the same tour with our- 
selves, and whom we had constantly heard of just ahead 
of us, ever since our leaving Ballston Si^rings. These 
gentlemen are both mineralogists, and had both trav- 
elled extensively, particularly Mr. Gilmore, in Europe 
as well as America. He showed us all the specimens 
of fossil and mineral substances which he had collected 
during this journey. They amounted to some scores, 
and afforded us much entertainment. He added some 
to his stock by pebbles found on the beach of Lake 
Ontario. This beach also affords the same kind of 
shining sand which we had seen at Lake Erie. 

We had contemplated passing the afternoon at the 



70 JOURNAL OF A 

American fort, the surgeon of which had sent us a polite 
card to take tea there ; but, the wind coming fair, we 
were summoned to embark, and at six o'clock took 
our departure from the wharf, on board the schooner 
" Governor Simcoe," Captain Samson master. Samson 
was from Harvard in jNlassachusetts ; and, although he 
has the reputation of being the best captain on the lake, 
we found him a surly, disobliging fellow, and not a little 
inclined to intemperance. His vessel was clean, well 
found, and commodious, and well supplied with what- 
ever we could wish, except beds. The cargo consisted 
of furs, and was estimated at thirty thousand pounds 
sterling. The passage money, which Avas two guineas 
each person, we understood to be a perquisite of the 
captain, for which he also provided stores. This was 
not very expensive with respect to many of us, for we 
were soon so sea-sick as to be incapable of eating any 
thing. There were twelve passengers in all. The 
crew, besides the captain and cook; consisted of eight 
hands, most of whom were English sailors. The wind 
during the night was light, and towards morning ahead, 
so that we were obliged to beat. 

Sunday, July 28th. In the morning, we could discern 
the mountains of Toronto behind the town of York on 
the northern shore. These mountains can be seen 
across the lake from Niagara, in still and clear weather. 
We could also see the shore which we had left. The 
last object that disappeared was the light-house at 
Niagara. By eleven o'clock a.m., the wind having 
again become fair, we were completely out of sight of 
land, and, as far as we could judge by the color of the 
water, we were off of soundings. The shores of this 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 71 

lake are generally bold, and it is said that at a mod- 
erate distance from the land it is without soundings. 

The depth of water in Lake Erie is generally about 
thirty fathoms^ and in no place exceeds fifty fathoms. 
Michigan is also shoal, but Huron and Superior are 
deejj. Lake Ontario is never frozen entirely over, but 
is always open through the winter, within sight of the 
shore. We had been told that it was the same with 
Lake Erie ; but Stevens, our host at Chippeway, told us 
that he had himself driven two horses in a sleigh across 
it, some ways above the fort, where it is ten miles wide, 
and from thence along the southern shore one hundred 
miles to Presque Isle, and that the ice was generally 
two or three feet thick. Whether the upper lakes are 
entirely frozen over in winter does not seem to be 
known, but it is certain that they are, so far as can be 
seen from the land. In summer, vessels of burden can 
pass from Erie into Huron, and thence into ^Michigan. 
Bateaux can pass from Lake Superior into Huron, but 
cannot return, on account of the rajDidity of the current 
at the fall of St. Mary. There are about twenty vessels 
on Lake Ontario, most of whicli are employed in carry- 
ing salt from Oswego to various ports, and in transport- 
ing goods between Niagara and Kingston. Notwith- 
standing the depth of water, the navigation is dangerous 
in bad weather for the Avant of sea room and safe ports. 
Niagara, York, and Kingston are the only secure har- 
bors into Avhich the passage is easy. Sodus Bay, on the 
southern shore, is an excellent harbor, but the entrance 
is over a dangerous bar. As the face of the country in 
the vicinity of the lake is in general level, the winds 
which blow over it are more steady than they would 



(2 JOUENAL OF A 

be if they were obstructed by neighboring mountains, 
but for the same reason are more violent, and sometimes 
produce a surge that no exertions can combat. It is 
thought that a greater joroportion of vessels are lost here 
than on the ocean itself. 

In the afternoon, the wind freshened so much that, by 
throwing the log, we ascertained our progress to be at 
the rate of eight miles an hour. The swell was heavy, 
but our course, Avhich was E.N. E., was directly across 
it, and it was therefore attended with no inconvenience. 
Towards evening, the sky near the horizon became 
smoky and hazy, and in the night the stars were only to 
be seen near the zenith. From the rate at which we 
were going, it was pretty certain that by ten o'clock, not 
far from the time expected, we should be near the Long 
Point, so called, which projects from the northern shore 
far out into the lake, about fifty miles from Kingston. 
The steersman alarmed the captain by declaring that 
he heard the surge breaking on the beach, when, upon 
heaving the lead, we Avere found to be in less than five 
fathoms of water. The vessel was immediately put 
about, and we went off within a few points of the track 
in which Ave had come, Avith such expedition that in an 
hour's time Ave had deepened our Avater to fifty fathoms. 
BetAveen one and tAvo o'clock, Ave resumed our course. 

July 29th. In the morning, Ave Avere out of sight of 
land, but made it again about eight o'clock. It proved 
to be tAvo islands, called Providence Islands, Avhicli ap- 
prised us that Ave Avere in a proper course ; and, with the 
help of a brisk and favorable wind, at eleven o'clock 
Ave arrived at Kingston, God be praised. From Niagara 
to Kingston, one hundred and eightv miles. We met 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 73 

with no small difficulty in procuring lodgings at King- 
ston. We casually met Judge Cartwright on tlie street, 
and, though we did not then know him, asked his direc- 
tions. He said he lamented that their village could not 
afford better accommodations, but named several houses 
where he thought it advisable for us to make an experi- 
ment. Having examined three or four, and found them 
small, filthy, and ill-supplied, we at length forced our- 
selves upon Walker, who keeps the hotel here, notwith- 
standing he said his beds were all occupied. While we 
were dining, two young British officers, who were at 
table, and who were lodgers in the house, politely offered 
us their beds, with the aid of which, by dividing them 
and spreading them upon the hall floor, we made out to 
sleep very comfortably. We found at the same house 
a 3'oung gentleman and his wife just from London, and 
now on their way to the British upper posts. He comes 
out in quality of Surveyor-General of Upper Canada. 
She is handsome, and appears to be an accomplished 
woman, such as one would not expect to meet in this 
depth of obscurity. 

Our fare at Walker's was good. His means are not 
equal to his wishes, but he and his people are very 
obliging. At dinner, we had among other dishes the 
head and shoulders of a maskinonc/e, boiled. This is a 
fish of the pike kind, but much larger than the fish of 
that sort usually are found. Some of them are said to 
weigh fifty or sixty pounds. We saw none, however, 
that would weigh much more than twenty pounds. 
They make a very good dish. After dining, we deliv- 
ered our letters to Judge Cartwright, and Mr. Robinson, 
his kinsman. Judge Cartwright is a member of the 

10 



74 JOURNAL OF A 

Council, or upper house of the Legislature of this Prov- 
ince, an office which is now hereclitarj^ He received 
us politely, and showed us all the civility and attention 
that the time and circumstances would permit. 

Kingston stands on a peninsula on the mainland, 
having Lake Ontario to the south, and the outlet called 
here the Lake of One Thousand Islands, the beginning 
of the river St. Lawrence, to the east. It is regularly 
laid out into streets and squares in the manner of a city. 
As yet it is hut partially built. When completed, the 
wdiole area will be about a mile and a quarter. The 
court-house, jail, and church, and most of the dwelling- 
houses and fences here, are of limestone. The whole 
town stands on a rock of limestone, but slightly cov- 
ered with earth. Judge Cartwaight's garden does him 
great credit. It is near the centre of the town, is sur- 
rounded with a high wall, and appears to be well culti- 
vated and attended. Peach-trees, which do well on the 
south side of Lake Ontario, do not thrive here ; even 
those which are secured and protected by the northern 
wall of the garden perish b^^^ reason of the severity of 
the winter, before they are of an age to bear. At the 
southern extremity of Kingston, the house of Parson 
Stuart is situated in a romantic spot. Behind it is a 
handsome garden and an orchard, and in front a beau- 
tiful piece of natural forest of beech-trees, free from 
under-brush, and which extends from the door of the 
house about ten rods, to the shore of Lake Ontario. 
A more delightful situation for repose or meditation can 
hardly be conceived. Behind, you have a view of both 
town and country ; before is a diversified prospect of 
land and water, while the ear is gratified at the same 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 75 

time with the melody of the birds and the murmur of 
the beach. 

In a cove which makes up into the mainland on the 
northern side of Kingston is a king's dock-yard. There 
is an island in the entrance of the river, on which a 
garrison is stationed, as there is also in the town itself. 
To one accustomed to see rivers occasionally overflow 
their banks, it is singular to observe how securely the 
people here build by the water's edge. Inundations 
are not known in the St, Lawrence. Judge Cartwright 
informed us that from long observation he is able to 
state that there is a regular annual rise in the waters of 
Lake Ontario, beginning about the first of April, and 
continuing to increase till about. the first of July; that 
it is never more than three feet, and seldom more than 
two. 

Chestnut, black walnut, and many other kinds of 
wood which are common on the south side of the lake, 
are not found on its north side, but instead thereof the 
evergreens are the prevailing woods. 

At Kingston, we saw considerable numbers of the 
Messessaga Indians. They are filthy, indolent, and 
miserable wretches, free as Paine himself would wish, 
and a fine specimen of the infinite perfectibility of man. 
We found no bateaux at Kingston, about to descend 
the river. Mr. Smith and Mv. Reynolds, gentlemen 
concerned in the fur-trade, and Mr. Hern, a Scotch 
trader, settled at Niagara, who had crossed the lake 
with us, purchased a Schenectady boat, and hired four 
Frenchmen to row her to Montreal, which having done, 
they politely offered us, together with Dr. Woodhouse 
and Mr. Gilmore, a share of the purchase. We found 



76 JOURNAL OF A 

that the boat would conveniently carry lis all. We were 
ill-provided with lodgings, and uncertain when an oppor- 
tunity would offer to go in the usual mode in bateaux ; 
and, as they go always loaded, we should be obliged, 
if we should go in them, to divide our company. We 
therefore gladly accepted the offer ; and having provided 
ourselves with provisions for the voyage, including a 
supply of Port and Madeira wines, we embarked early 
in the morning of July 30, to the number of fourteen in 
all, upon the Lake of One Thousand Islands, and shaped 
our course for Montreal. 

We had been taught to hope that we might go from 
Kingston to Montreal in two days ; but we soon found 
this a vain expectation. To effect such a progress re- 
quires a strong and favorable breeze, and sails to make 
the most of it. We had not the good fortune to enjoy 
either of these advantages, and we soon found our boat's 
crew were not as expert or skilful in the navigation of 
the river as the generality of the watermen who ply 
upon it. They were now returning from a long expe- 
dition to the Indian country, and had for some time 
been unused to this particular kind of labor. Our whole 
progress, therefore, this day, was short of forty miles, 
although we lost but very little time at -rest or refresh- 
ment. We dined on a bare rock on an uninhabited 
island, the last in the Lake of One Thousand Islands, 
and which we called Smith's Island, in compliment to 
the gentleman who acted as our conductor. 

The name of the lake we found not to be hyperbolical, 
as we had at first supposed. We verily believed that 
we saw very near one thousand islands. Mr. Gilmore 
affirmed that he counted fifty in view at one time. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 77 

They are of various sizes, some containing fifty acres 
or more, and others not a quarter of an acre. They 
form a Labyrinth, through which it requires the expe- 
rience of a pilot to find a passage. The scene is con- 
tinually changing ; sometimes you seem to be completely 
land-locked, with a shore at no great distance in every 
direction. In a few minutes,- extensive sheets of water 
expand to the view, and you then perceive that what 
before seemed to be perhaps but one is in reality several 
islands. Sometimes you are in still water as of a lake, 
and forthwith find yourself in the strong current of a 
river. As you emerge from the islands and come into 
the view of both shores of the river, the prospect down- 
stream is remarkably fine. The breadth from shore to 
shore is from one to two miles, but in the direction of 
the river north-eastward the sky and water unite. 

At night we went ashore on the west side, and pro- 
cured a cup of tea in a log house owned by a Whitney, 
a settler from Stamford, in Connecticut. He has been 
here about five years ; he owns five hundred acres of 
land on the river, which cost him forty dollars at first, 
and all his taxes since have been but sixty cents, which 
was for the repair of roads. He has one hundred acres 
under cultivation, and has a fine young orchard growing 
near his house. His people have often ploughed up the 
heads of Indian arrows of flint. It being the time of 
wheat harvest, we saw his people threshing some in the 
open air on a flat rock. The family did all in their 
power to oblige us, but the house would accommodate no 
more than two of us. Mr. Smith and Mr. Hern con- 
cluded to sleep in the boat for the security of the prop- 
erty during the voyage, and the rest of us for this time 



78 JOURNAL OF A 

slept ill the barn. Although our accommodations in 
a small log barn were neither spacious nor splendid, 
they were nevertheless pleasant. We had sweet fresh 
hay for our bed, we were agreeably fanned by a soft 
breeze, the mild light of the moon and the gentle mur- 
mur of the beach Avere particularly favorable to repose, 
and never was sleep more grateful or refreshing. 

July 31st. On awakening, we learned the disagree- 
able news that the wind was stiff ahead. Certain 
bateaux which we had met the day before, just as we 
were coming out of Kingston harbor, had passed us in 
the night on their return, and, as we judged b}^ the 
smoke, were now stopping for breakfast at an island 
about half a mile below us. After considerable consul- 
tation, it was thought best for us to make some progress 
before breakfast. Our crew, of their own head, made 
for the island wliere the bateaux were. It was fortunate 
they did so : they had discovered somewhat of a refrac- 
tory and mutinous spirit yesterday, and, not having been 
lately used to labor so hard, they were ill-disposed to 
row against the wind to-day. We conjectured also that 
the steersman was conscious of his want of ability to 
conduct the boat with safety down the many dangerous 
rapids below, and was glad, therefore, of an opportunity 
to quarrel, as an excuse for refusing to proceed with us. 
Having reached the island, they made our boat fast, and 
joined the Frenchmen belonging to the bateaux, who 
were eating at a fire among the bushes. Finding that 
we were to remain here till they should have got their 
breakfast and felt disposed to proceed, we remonstrated, 
and desired to be set back to Whitney's, that we too 
might get a breakfast. They immediately flew into a 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 79 

rage, said they never had so many masters at once, took 
their baggage out of the boat, and swore they would 
row us no further. Our situation for a little time was 
very unpleasant, and we seemed to have no alternative 
but to row ourselves. But labor was not the only 
requisite in our case : none of us possessed the skill and 
experience necessary to enable us to pass the rapids 
"with safety. The neighboring country is almost entirely 
a wilderness, and there are no roads on either shore, so 
that we might travel by land. Fortunately, one of the 
bateaux at the island was double manned. There not 
being loading enough at Kingston for all the bateaux 
which went up yesterday, — exclusive of the furs belong- 
ing to the North-west Company, and which they choose 
to have transported by their own people, — the crew of 
one of them had left her there till another opportunit3\ 
They here offered us their services at a moderate rate. 
As we were in no condition to decline, we gladly ac- 
cepted them, and soon found that we had reason to 
rejoice in the change ; that we had got a much better 
set of hands, with a more discreet and civil conductor. 
All the boats started from the island together, but ours 
soon left the others, and in the course of the day we 
lost sight of them. Having now cleared the islands, so 
that our course was direct, — the wind having subsided, 
and our crew in line spirits, which we took care occa- 
sionally to recruit by artificial means, — we advanced 
with great speed. 

The shores, which had been rocky and abrupt, sub- 
sided into agreeable slope. The settlements upon them 
begin to thicken, and the country bids fair in time to 
be thrifty and populous. Our hands entertained lis 



80 JOURNAL OF A 

much with a great many French songs, which they sing 
in alternate sentences, keeping time to the music with 
their oars. We stopped to deliver a letter at the village 
of Oswegatchie, at the mouth of the river of the same 
name, on the New York side. Here is an ancient 
French stone fort in ruins, and a modern town just in 
embryo. The legal name of the place is Ogdensburg. 
It seems favorably situated to prosper, having the ad- 
vantage of a stand for mills on the Oswegatchie within 
half a mile of its mouth, and of water carriage by means 
of the St. Lawrence, which is here more than two miles 
wide. We met several bateaux this day passing up the 
river. They were almost all navigated by Frenchmen, 
who make it an invariable practice to blackguard and 
vilify each other as they pass, with the most sarcastic 
and abusive language they can invent. Our hands 
seemed no waj's inferior to their brethren in this sort of 
compliment. A few miles below Oswegatchie, Ave passed 
the first rapid, called the Galotte [Galops] ; further on, 
the rapid, Plat ; and below, the Catfish rapid. None of 
these are considered formidable. We passed an Indian 
town on the New York side ; and Johnstown, a growing 
village and county town, on the other. 

The British Government take great pains to promote 
the settlement and prosperity of their territory, and not 
without considerable success. Settlements, however, 
are beginning on the American side, and the enterprise 
of our countrymen is observable in the construction of 
mills, which are made to go with the natural current 
of the river, not only at the rapids, but even where the 
water does not flow more than two or three miles an 
hour. In this last case, the large water-wheel moves 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 81 

veiy slow, but by multiplying the gear the mill-stones 
move sufSciently fast. About ten o'clock at night, we 
halted at a public house, kept by Lousk, a Dutchman. 
We found it a good house, but had not time to enjoy 
many of its comforts. Our whole progress this day was 
sixty miles. 

August 1st, 1805. At three o'clock in the morning, 
we proceed down the river to Bernard's, to breakfast, 
eighteen miles ; a very good house. In this course, we 
passed the rapid called the Long Sault, a frightful place. 
The water runs with great velocity here for half a mile. 
It is necessary that the boat should be directed exactly 
across the billows, to prevent it from oversetting and 
rolling over like a log, as it would certainly do, if its side 
was turned to the current. Many fatal accidents have 
happened at this place. Lord Amherst lost five hun- 
dred of his army here for want of skilful j)ilots. Even 
our hands lost their wonted vivacity on approaching the 
Long Sault, and the conductor gave them a charge that, 
while shooting it, they should fix their eyes on him. 
They did so. All was silence except the roaring of the 
waters. Sometimes the hands rowed, and sometimes 
they held back. We went with astonishing rapidity, 
and in about five minutes were past the danger, to the 
very sensible relief of us all. The watermen on this 
side consider the first passage of this rapid as so much 
of an exploit that they make a practice to sprinkle, or 
baptize, as they call it, every person on his first approach 
to it. Our hands prepared to serve us in this manner, 
observing, however, that they would do it delicately ; 
but we declined undergoing the operation at all, and 
easily bought our peace by the promise of a small douceur 

11 



82 JOURNAL OF A 

on our arrival at Montreal. A little below the Long 
Sault, on the westerly side, stands the town of Cornwall. 
About seven o'clock, we resumed our course, and reached 
the head of the Lake St. Francis. This lake is, properly 
speaking, no more than a swell or enlargement of the 
river, and is in no place more than ten miles wide, and 
generally not more than half that distance. We here 
discovered the mountains in the neighborhood of Lake 
Champlain, the first we had seen for some hundred 
miles. The wind blowing fresh and directly ahead, the 
boat was obliged to stop, and we proceeded on foot a 
mile or two, to Cameron's, to dine ; from Bernard's, ten 
miles. Cameron was from Perth, in Scotland. Mr. 
Gilmore told the landlady that he had been in Perth. 
She immediatel}' said she wondered what could have 
induced him to leave so fine a place as Perth, and come 
into such a wilderness. They keep a pretty good 
house. We dined on white bass, boiled and smoked eels. 
The limestone about Cameron's is composed entirely of 
small shells. At half-past one, the wind having abated, 
we again embarked, and traversed Lake St. Francis in 
a direct line nearly through the centre, to McGee's, or 
McKie's, eighteen miles, where we took tea. This house 
stands on Point Bourdett [Pointe au Bodet], so called, 
a romantic spot projecting into the lake. The view 
from this point up the river is like one through a bay 
or river into the sea. In some points, the horizon is 
formed by the sky and water ; in others, islands interrupt 
the prospect, and on some of them the trees seem half- 
sunk in the water, while on others they are so nearly 
lost as to resemble the masts of ships riding at anchor. 
McGee keeps a very good house, and his wife is a Cana- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 83 

dian Frenchwoman. She speaks no English, but is very 
neat and industrious. At half-past seven o'clock in the 
evening, we resumed our course. Before we stopped 
again, we could hear the rapids roar at the Coteau du 
Lac. At ten, we arrived at Mclntire's, a Scotchman's, 
to sleep, nine miles ; making the whole of this day's 
progress, fifty-five miles. Lake St. Francis may be said 
to begin at Cameron's and end at McLitire's. If so, its 
length is twenty-seven miles ; but, if all the islands are 
considered as being in the lake, it is much longer. Upon 
the whole, this was. a very disagreeable day to me. To 
be confined in a leaky, defective, heavy-loaded, open 
boat, having fourteen persons on board ; rushing with 
frightful velocity down foaming rapids ; traversing Lake 
St. Francis against the wind, many miles from land, with 
a considerable sea running ; coursing in the night along 
an unknown shore, sometimes entangled among bul- 
rushes, at others hurried away by currents, the sk}'' low- 
ering and threatening a storm, and the rapids of Coteau 
du Lac roaring within our hearing, — altogether rendered 
this part of our journey extremely unpleasant. But, 
God be praised, we arrived here in safety, and slept 
soundly till three o'clock in the morning of August 2d. 
We shot the rapids called the Coteau du Lac, and pro- 
ceeded to the village called the Cedars, standing at the 
head of the rapids of the same name. To McMillan's, 
to breakfast, nine miles ; a poor tavern. Here six of us 
left the boat, and went in calashes to the foot of the 
rapids. Major Williams, Mr. Gilmore, and Mr. Smith 
remained, and went over the rapids in the boat. We 
witnessed this passage from the land. Sometimes their 
course was winding along the shore, at others it was on 



84 JOUKNAL OF A 

the ridge of the current, occasioned by the compression 
of the water in passing among obstructing rocks ; some- 
times their descent from rock to rock was so sudden 
that they twice struck ; but at last they shot directly 
through the billows, occasioned by the current meeting 
with the still water in Lake St. Louis. This passage is 
accounted nine miles in length. We thought it hardly 
so much. It is considered, and very justly, as attended 
with danger, although the gentlemen who performed 
it said they thought its terrors had been exaggerated. 
We all resumed our seats in the boat, including two 
fresh passengers whom we took in at the Cedars, and 
proceeded over Lake St. Louis to La Chine on the island 
of Montreal, eighteen miles, where we landed at noon. 

Lake St. Louis may properly be said to commence at 
the foot of the rapids, and to extend to the island of 
Montreal. It is six or eight miles wide, and compre- 
hends the island of Perault, on which, as we passed it, 
we observed several houses, a church, windmill, and 
other buildings. Wherever we could discern the shores 
of the lake, they were covered with settlements. Look- 
ing from one end to the other, or up the passage which 
communicates with the lake of the two mountains, the 
shore cannot be seen. At the foot of the rapids, we 
first descried the mountain behind Montreal, and at the 
same time observed on the left the two mountains near 
the lake of that name, and on the right the mountains 
towards the northern end of Lake Champlain. But 
notwithstanding the picturesque and interesting views 
which presented themselves on every side, the passage 
of Lake St. Louis was far from being pleasant. At the 
entrance, we were rocked in the trough of the surge, 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 85 

occasioned by the rapids meeting the still waters ; and, 
when we took our course directly across it, we had 
the wind ahead, with a considerable swell. The boat 
leaked faster than before, owing as well to the increase 
of her load as to her having struck the rocks. We 
were two or three miles from the nearest shore, and in 
case of accident we could expect no assistance. The 
wind, however, subsided, when we should have been 
most exposed to it, but freshened again soon after we 
reached La Chine. Here ended our navigation of the 
lakes and river of Canada. 

To have accomplished so arduous an undertaking 
afforded us no small satisfaction, but it would not be 
easy to persuade any of us to repeat this part of our 
excursion. For near a week, we had been rocking on 
the water, and most of that time had been confined 
eighteen hours in twenty-four to our boat. Of course, 
we had been equally unable to take our regular meals, 
or to indulge in exercise or repose. We had been 
exposed to the heat of the day and the damps of the 
night ; to the perils of navigating extensive waters in an 
open boat, with the wind generally adverse ; and to the 
more imminent hazard of passing rapids that seemed to 
defy our approach. Certain I am that I have formed 
a resolution never again to attemjot a water passage, 
unless the reason in favor of that mode of conveyance 
should greatly preponderate. Yet our journey down 
the river was comparatively prosperous. The head- 
wind was almost the only unfavorable circumstance 
that attended it. Most of the time the weather was so 
cloudy as to protect us from the sunshine, and jet it 
did not rain until the night after we landed, when it 



86 JOURNAL OF A 

poured down profusely. We had withal an obliging, 
active, and indefatigable boat's crew. I have never 
known men perform so much hard labor, and take so 
little repose in the same time. The Canadians seem to 
be peculiarly fitted for this kind of toil, although in 
general they are not remarkable either for industry or 
enterprise. We were particularly careful not only to 
pay our boatmen their stipulated wages, but to make 
them considerable additional gratuities, which they 
very thankfully received. We were induced to this, 
not more by a sense of gratitude for the services they 
had rendered us, than by a desire to punish the crew 
who forsook us at the island, who we were persuaded 
would not fail to hear of our liberality, and to regret 
that they had perversely lost the opportunity of shar- 
ing it. Not able to procure a decent dinner at La 
Chine, we hired calashes, and proceeded over a new 
turnpike road, which already needs repair, to Montreal, 
seven miles. We found that the customary hour of 
dining here is four o'clock, so that we were in good 
season. We made head-quarters at Hamilton's Hotel, 
which is a most excellent house, not only as it respects 
the accommodations, but also the attendance and 
supplies. 

August 3d. Mr. Gilmore, who had travelled in 
France, pronounced Montreal to be an exact represen- 
tation of a French village. Its appearance was novel to 
most of us on account of its antiquity. The houses are 
generally small, built of a dull-colored stone, and fur- 
nished with iron window-shutters and doors. The win- 
dows are small, and few in number. The entrance is 
sometimes through a court, which is walled against the 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. - 87 

street, so that you cannot see the liouse-door as you 
pass. The general ajjpearance of the town therefore, 
at first, is gloomy. Many of the roofs here are cov- 
ered with tinned plates. They look very well, and are 
said to be j^roof against the weather. A stranger is 
much at a loss in Montreal to know where stores or 
shops of any kind are kept. There are but few signs 
to be seen, and there is no display of wares in the win- 
dows ; nor is it easy to discover any difference in the 
form or exterior appearance between stores and dwell- 
ing-houses. 

We this morning attended in the large Roman 
Catholic Church the funeral service of a M. Corville, a 
gentleman of some note, who had died two days before. 
The church was hung in black, and the external light 
was sparingly admitted, but its place was supplied by 
the light of a prodigious number of wax tapers which 
were burning within. I counted one hundred and fifty 
on the kind of pyramid on which the corpse was placed. 
The mummery, frivolity, and silly ceremonies of the 
serAace, exceeded what I had expected even from 
Papists, and my wonder was excited that even igno- 
rance itself should be amused, much less overawed and 
enslaved, by such a religion. The service was per- 
formed by a large number of priests, and a greater 
number of boys, most of whom were dressed in white, 
but dirty garments. Several nuns and a large congre- 
gation attended. The weather was very warm, and 
the corpse was ofi"ensive. The incense and candles 
seryed rather to increase than diminish the disagreea- 
ble effluvia, and we were glad therefore to get out into 
pure air again. 



88 JOURNAL OF A 

Purposing now to deliver our letters, we had inquired 
out the house of Stephen Sewall, Esq., to whom one of 
them was addressed, and were going towards it, but, 
being struck with the appearance of the town-house as 
we were passing it, we turned aside to examine it. As 
we entered the court in front of the building, a gentle- 
man who happened to be there, concluding that we were 
strangers, politely offered to conduct us. This gentle- 
man proved to be Mr. Sewall, whom we were in quest 
of. We visited the library ; it has been nine or ten 
years collecting ; it is well chosen, and, for its age, 
numerons. The apartments in this building are well 
adapted to the uses for which they were intended. 
There are separate chambers for the respective Courts 
of Judicature, and commodious rooms, besides, for the 
Judges, Council, Juries, &c. The body of the house is 
of stone, and the floors are of oak. The principal door 
is in the second story, to which the approach is by wind- 
ing stairs. The conrt in front is spacious and hand- 
somely walled. Having satisfied our curiosity here, we 
visited Mr. Sewall at his house. The rain prevented 
our makiug a more extensive excursion. We cannot be 
sufficiently grateful for the favorable weather which 
we had during our passage down the river. This day it 
rained much, and blew almost a gale of wind. 

Mr. McGillevray, Judge Ogden, Mr. Clark, and Mr. 
Auldjo, called upon us at our lodgings. We dined at 
Judge Ogden's, He was formerly of New Jersey, and 
left it at the time of the American Revolution, on account 
of his attachment to the Royal cause. He is a pleasant, 
intelligent, and gentlemanly man. Major Karnej^, the 
commanding officer here. Lieutenant Bennet, Mr. Rich- 
ardson, and Mr. McGillevray, were of the party. We 



TOUR TO ^fIAGAEA FALLS. 89 

had a handsome dinner, good wine, and pleasant com- 
pany. Mr. McGillevray is a Large stockholder in the 
North-west Company. He has resided ten years in the 
north-west country, in latitude 56*^ or 57°, and longitude 
107°, superintending the fur-trade there. The annual 
amount of the beaver skins obtained by the company is 
from fifteen hundred to two thousand packs, each pack 
weighing from one hundred to one hundred and twenty 
pounds. To prevent overstocking the English market, 
the Company send some of these to Canton in China, 
by the way of New York, and sell others to the Russians, 
who by means of their caravans introduce them into 
China, on the opposite side. The most, remote post be- 
longing to the North-west Company is west of the Stony 
Ridge, so called, in latitude 65'^, and longitude 118" or 
120°. The land to the southward of the post, it is said, 
is high, so that in winter they do not see the sun for 
nearly two months. The Company have fifteen hundred 
Canadians in constant employment at their respective 
posts, all of whom are kept in perfect order and submis- 
sion, without any other authority than what their over- 
seers assume. They live extremely low, and perform 
duties to which nobody else would submit. The Com- 
pany seem to entertain no great apprehension of danger 
from the Indians. The chain of posts is strong, the par- 
ties which pass from one to another are commonly large, 
and it would be easy, upon short notice, to collect a force 
too formidable for the Indians to molest. But notwith- 
standing all this, and that the Indians, it is said, are well 
affected to this intercourse, the Company have lately 
received information that twelve of their people have 
been killed by the Indians this year. 

12 



90 JOUKNAL OF A 

From Lake Erie to this place, the inhabitants make 
use of the water of the hikes and river for all purposes. 
It is remarkably pure and sweet. At Montreal, they 
drink well water, but use the river water for washing. 
At this season, the washerwomen are seen standing in 
the river where the water is a foot or two deep, and 
beating the clothes with batons upon wooden stands 
erected for the purpose. The water of the St. Lawrence 
is much more pure where it first flows out of Lake On- 
tario than after it has received the tribute of the lazy 
streams which join it between that and Montreal. 

Sunday, August 4th. We attended divine service in the 
Episcopalian mode in the Presbyterian Church. The 
Episcopalians had a house for public worship of their 
own; but it was destroyed by fire above two j^ears ago, 
and since that time they have used this building, where 
they assemble immediately after its proprietors, the 
Presbyterians, leave it. The congregation was small, 
but genteel and apparently opulent. The military at- 
tended in the gallery. The clergyman who officiated, 
Mr. Rudd, a young man, gave us a good sermon ; but his 
appearance and manner were rather foppish and affected. 
We dined with Mr. McGillevray, with what he called a 
family party, who it seems make a practice of assembling 
at his table once a week. This gentleman's house is 
situated on an eminence beyond the suburbs, to the 
south-eastward from the town, whence there is a charm- 
ing prospect of an extensive tract of the river, with 
several of its islands ; of the town of Montreal, with its 
harbor and suburbs ; of the village of La Prairie, on the 
opposite or eastern shore of the river, eight or ten miles 
distant; and of the distant mountains of Chambly and 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 91 

Lake Champlain. The house stands on a flat, near a 
long and steep slope on its south-east side, which it 
fronts ; 3^0 u approach it on the opposite side, where there 
is an elegant yard or court between the street and the 
house. A bell at the street gate announces your ar- 
rival, a servant opens to you, and you pass with your 
carriage by a winding and gravelled way round to the 
front. Adjoining the court on the south is an extensive 
and Avell-managed garden, in which were not only to be 
seen all the plants usually found in gardens here, but 
many exotics. Those of milder climates are preserved 
in a green-house. Peach and other fruit trees are jDro- 
tected from the rigor of winter by a wall. 

Mr. McGillevray has also an aviary well stocked, as 
also deer, rabbits, and other animals tamed, with many 
other curiosities in and about his house, all of which ren- 
der it an interesting place to an inquisitive mind. Other 
inducements to view it, however, are not wanting. Mrs. 
McGillevray is amiable and accomplished, has an agree- 
able person, and frank and prepossessing manners. She 
is from Scotland, and has just enough of the brogue in 
her speech to make it pleasant. Our dinner was excel- 
lent, served up in sumptuous style. We had soup, sal- 
mon, roast beef and mutton, geese, ducks, and j^igeons, 
j)lum pudding, pies and tarts, biscuit, and butter brought 
from the Grand Portage at the head of Lake Superior, 
several kinds of English cheese, and a dessert of various 
kinds of foreign and domestic fruit. Our liquors were 
London porter, bottled cider, strong ale, madeira, port, 
claret, and champagne wines. Every thing was excellent 
in its kind. Ever since we had left New England, we had 
found the fresh beef, but more especially the mutton, re- 



92 JOURNAL OF A 

markably well-flavored and palatable, which we ascribed 
to the wild kind of food upon which those animals sub- 
sist in the new countries. We returned to our lodgings 
on foot, in a charming moon-shine evening. 

August 5th. Visited the principal Roman Catholic 
Church, erected in 1725. It is decorated with consider- 
able taste and much expense. Several ancient people 
were at their devotions in various parts of the church, 
which we were told was common at all times of day. It 
has a chime of well-toned bells ; they are not rung, how- 
ever, in regular cadence or order, but all together. 

By the polite invitation of Mr. McGillevray, we visited 
the North-west Company's warehouse. They have here 
a very large and accurate manuscript map of Lake 
Superior, and a part of the country beyond it. It con- 
tains much useful information, not to be met with in 
any printed map. We saw and examined large quan- 
tities of furs, which the people were sorting and pack- 
ing in proper order to be shipped. The finest beaver 
is sent to St. Petersburg for the China market. The 
next quality is shipped from the United States for the 
same country. Most of the residue is manufactured in 
England. Besides beaver, we here saw the skins of 
deer, bears, foxes, wolves, buffaloes, muskrats, martens, 
minks, otters, wolverines, and black foxes. Here is 
also an assortment of the wares prepared to be sent to 
the posts for the Indian market. In consequence of 
the late hour which custom has established for dining, 
the gentry of Montreal make a practice of taking a 
little souj), steak, or cold collation about noon, or, in 
other words, of eating a meal between their breakfast 
and dinner. We w^ere this day invited by Mr. Salmon, 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 93 

an English sea-captain, whom we had met with at Mr. 
McGillevray's, to partake of a repast of this kind on 
board his ship, — a London trader, called the " Eddy- 
stone." Mr. and Mrs. McGillevray, Mrs. Shaw, and 
Miss Duane were of the party. We had soup, mut- 
ton chop, ham, shrimps, porter, and cheese, all served 
np in a very inviting manner, in a remarkably neat and 
capacious cabin. 

The harbor of Montreal is of great depth, though not 
capacious. It is a branch onl}^ of the river, and the 
approach to it is through a narrow channel, where the 
stream is so rapid that vessels are known sometimes to 
la}^ at anchor a month or more, within two miles of the 
harbor, waiting for a strong wind, which alone can 
enable them to stem the current. Vessels from Europe, 
therefore, commonly make but one trip to this place in 
a year. The vessels employed in this trade are well 
calculated for passengers, and for the accommodation 
of the officers and crew belonging to them, who enjoy 
a summer of the most perfect leisure. They commonly 
remain in harbor here as much as three months. As 
fast as furs arrive, they are shipped, because when on 
board they are at the risk of the insurers. Captain 
Salmon told us that the amount of his ship's freight 
would be about thirty -five hundred pounds sterling. 

We dined at Mr. Sewall's. His mother, who was at 
table, a pleasant and facetious old lady, was the daugh- 
ter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., and the wife of Jonathan 
Sewall, Esq., late king's attorney-general in the prov- 
ince of Massachusetts Ba}'. She yet smarts from the 
confiscation of her late husband's estate during the 
Revolution. Young Mrs. Sewall was from Albany. 



94 JOURNAL OF A 

She is very agreeable, and mucli of a lady. There 
were present Judge Ogden, Dr. Jones, Mr. Clark, Mr. 
Ogilvey, a very pleasant and intelligent man, and a 
Miss Caldwell, a young lady who was on a visit here 
from Albany. AVe had a handsome dinner and an 
elegant dessert. A gooseberry at the table measured 
three inches in circumference. Mr. Sewall is by pro- 
fession a lawyer, and is said to realize there from six 
hundred to eight hundred pounds sterling a year. Mr. 
Reed, another lawyer here, has a still larger professional 
income. 

Tuesday, August 6th. We employed the morning 
in perambulating the town, and in purchasing such 
articles at the shops as convenience or fancy suggested. 
Considering that Canada has been a province of the 
British Empire for half a century, it is surprising that 
the English language should not have made a greater 
progress among its inhabitants. Not one in five of the 
people in Montreal can speak it, and the proportion of 
those who are acquainted with it out of the city is still 
less. It is said that the French inhabitants refuse to 
be taught to speak English, even when instruction is 
offered to them gratis, and that they still cherish the 
prejudices against the English nation for which their 
ancestors were distinguished, insomuch that the gov- 
ernment are of opinion that, if the French should 
attempt an invasion of Canada, they would be gladly 
received and assisted by the great body of its French 
inhabitants. 

At one o'clock, by appointment we visited the H6tel 
de Dieu, so called, which is a convent of nuns of the 
order of Ursulines. This was a favor which we pro- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 95 

cured bj the good offices of Judge Ogden, who had for 
this purpose obtained the consent of some superior eccle- 
siastic, which it seems was indispensable. There are 
here thirty-six nuns. Those we saw were considerably 
advanced in years, and except two or three were very 
homely. One of them only could speak English. Judge 
Ogden, however, assisted occasionally by Mr. Gilmore 
and Major Williams, kept up a livel}^ conversation with 
them in French. They generally appeared to be in 
good spirits, and the Superior was particularly lively 
and sportive in her conversation. We successively vis- 
ited their room for transacting business with strangers, 
which is done through an iron lattice or grating, their 
sitting-room, their dining-room, — where is a kind of 
desk or rostrum from which one constantly reads while 
the rest are eating in silence, — their private chapels, 
cells, kitchen, working-rooms, common chapel, church, 
apothecary's store, hospitals for each sex, and garden. 
They apologized for the disorder which they said their 
affairs were in, by reason of the spire of their church 
having been struck with lightning but one fortnight 
before, when the church itself was set on fire, but by 
timely assistance it was preserved from destruction. 
We, however, did not think their apologies necessary; 
for every thing about them appeared to be well ordered 
and neat. There were about a dozen sick in the hos- 
pitals, amongst whom we remarked one man under the 
operation of the small-pox. None of either sex, labor- 
ing under any disorder, are refused admittance, unless 
the accommodations are all taken up. The dress of the 
nuns was the most unbecoming that could be devised. 
It consisted of a black gown, a piece of linen cloth 



i 



96 JOURNAL OF A 

which passed with a single thickness tight round the 
forehead, close to the eyes, and covered the whole head 
so that no hair was to be seen, and then fell down over 
the shoulders and breast a foot or more below the chin. 
Over this was a long black veil. Before was a white 
linen ajDron with a pocket in it, which had a very un- 
graceful and uncouth appearance. Throughout their 
apartments there prevailed a confined, disagreeable 
smell, and prison-like gloom. After purchasing a few 
trifling articles, and depositing a little money by way 
of acknowledgment in their charity-box, we retired by 
a passage at a considerable distance from that by which 
we had entered. The visit fully gratified our curiosity, 
and confirmed our aversion to this kind of interment 
of the living, or rather increased it to abhorrence. I 
could not help fancying that I could occasionally dis- 
cern in every one of this unfortunate sisterhood a secret 
regret that the vow was upon her. 

We dined wdth Mr. Clark, formerly of Boston, who 
is here commissary and quartermaster-general, pay- 
master, &c. He is a gentleman of useful talents and 
agreeable manners, and his wife is a lady of handsome 
figure and accomplishments. Judge Ogdeu and son, 
Mr. Sewall, Mr. Richardson, and others, were of the 
party. We had at dinner, among other dishes, salt fish 
of the first quality in the New England style ; and here 
too, as at every other j)lace which we had visited in 
Montreal, we found the liquors all excellent in their 
kind. Towards evening, we took calashes and rode out 
to the mountain. We passed by the new house of the 
late Mr. McTavish, which he has left unfinished, and 
visited his tomb, which is situated behind the house, in 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 97 

a thick wood on the mountain side. This situation is 
the most romantic that can well be imagined. Behind 
the tomb rises a lofty precipice of perpendicular rocks, 
one of which forms a detached column, and seems as if 
intended by nature for a monument. These rocks are 
composed of regular strata, the uppermost of which are 
of limestone. They are a part of a ledge or precipice 
which extends quite round the mountain, and has the 
appearance of having been worn by water. This is to 
be accounted for by supposing that most of the island 
of Montreal, and of course the surrounding country, were 
once covered to this height by the river, which has since 
forced a passage through the rocks at Quebec, and be- 
tween that place and this, so as to leave bare the exten- 
sive plains which now border upon it, all of which bear 
the marks of having been formed by the water. The 
view from the mountain side is exceedingly picturesque 
and grand. From the place where you stand, luxuriant 
and well-cultivated fields extend to the city, all of which, 
with its suburbs, is directly under your eye. Down the 
river, for thirty miles or more, you see the water skirted 
with rich fields, in which are thickly scattered churches, 
and windmills almost constantly in motion, dwelling- 
houses, and various other buildings. The fields are 
bounded by deep woods which terminate the view, 
except towards the south-east, where the rude moun- 
tains of Vermont lift their tops to the clouds. 

Mr. McTavish is much regretted by the gentlemen of 
Montreal, who speak of him as having been a thorough 
merchant, an accomplished, hospitable, munificent man ; 
in short, as an ornament to societ3^ He died July 6, 
1804, leaving an estate of one hundred and twenty 

13 



98 JOURNAL OF A 

thousand pounds sterling, to be inherited by four chil- 
dren. On our return from the mountain, we called and 
took tea at Mr. McGillevray's. Mrs. McGillevray de- 
lighted us highly by singing several Scottish songs in 
the true Scottish dialect and brogue. Mrs. Duane 
accompanied her with the harp. Mr. Gilmore this 
morning set off for Quebec in a packet ; but his com- 
panion, Dr. Woodhouse, had become homesick, and 
resolved to make the best of his way back to Phila- 
delphia. 

Wednesday, August 7th. We had originally contem- 
plated making an excursion from Montreal to Quebec, 
but many considerations induced us now to change our 
purpose. A passage by water would have been irksome, 
and one by land too fatiguing. We were told that, al- 
though the distance is one hundred and eighty miles, we 
could travel it in calashes and return in five days, allow- 
ing a day to spare at Quebec ; but we had appropriated 
from the first only six weeks for our whole journey. 
More than a month of the time had now elapsed, and 
a passage across Lake Champlain was uncertain on 
account of the wind. We therefore concluded to re- 
turn directly home. The many civilities and constant 
attention which we received at Montreal, not only from 
the gentlemen to whom our letters were addressed, but 
from their friends, rendered it impossible to leave the 
place without a sensible regret. On adjusting our con- 
cerns with Mr. Hamilton, the master of the hotel, we 
were surprised to find that our bill for five days' enter- 
tainment, including calash hire, washing, &c., amounted 
to but about eight dollars each. 

At nine o'clock in the morning, we left Montreal with 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 99 

Dr. Wooclhouse, and crossed over to Longueuil, three 
miles. In tins passage, we were delighted with the ap- 
pearance of an island in the river, called Grant's Island. 
It contains several acres of land, mostly covered with 
wood, entirely free from underbrush. There are upon 
it a dwelling-house and appendages suitable for a gen- 
tleman of fortune, accommodated with a fine garden, 
a green-house, and a garden wall well set with fruit 
trees. At the lower end of the island is a large stone 
mill, which goes by the natural current of the river. 

From Longueuil, we deviated a little to the northward 
of the direct course to St. John's, for the purpose of vis- 
iting the old French castle of Chambly, fifteen miles. 
This whole distance was over a plain, scarcely varied by 
a single inequality of surface, and covered with wheat, 
grass, and weeds, the latter of which, and particularly 
the Canada thistle, had obtained a decided superiority. 
The fields are covered with this pernicious plant, some- 
times as far as the eye can reach ; the atmosphere is 
tainted with its odor, and filled with its seeds, flying 
before the wind. 

The French country houses are built at regular dis- 
tances, of logs or stones, with thatched roofs. They are 
almost exactly alike, except in size. Near them 3'ou 
see their barns, constructed with equal uniformity. 
They are composed of split wood, fastened into grooves 
cut in posts, which are set perpendicularly in the ground. 
The oven belonging to a French house is commonly sit- 
uated at some distance from it, upon a platform raised 
three or four feet from the ground. Sometimes it is 
placed on a stump. 

At Chambly, we came to the outlet of Lake Cham- 



100 JOURNAL OP A 

plain, called the Chambly, Sorel, or Richelieu River, the 
latter of which names is the most common. Here are 
two considerable villages, one at some distance below the 
castle, towards the church, and the other just above it. 
On the opposite side of the river is another church and 
parish, called Point Olivet ; and a little further down on 
the west side is still another parish, called Belceil. The 
castle is a stone fabric, built by the French in 1711. It 
is about six or eight rods square, encompassing something 
more than a quarter of an acre of ground. It has four 
square towers, one at each corner, which are upwards of 
thirty feet high. The walls in general are about five feet 
less in height, and do not project so much. Many of the 
embrasures or apertures, originally left for firing through, 
have been closed up. It is situated at the water's edge, 
at the foot of the Long Rapids, so called, and has a ma- 
jestic tlrough rude appearance. The river here, for sev- 
eral miles above, is from one hundred rods to half a mile 
or more wide ; and where the water is broken, as it is for 
a mile or more in the rapids, it exhibits a very fine ap- 
pearance. Having surmounted these obstructions, the 
river spreads out into a basin or small lake, just below 
the castle, a mile or more in each direction, from which 
it Hows out by two channels, encomi^assing an island of 
considerable extent. Bateaux can come from Quebec 
as far up the river as the castle, but no further. Nor is 
it easy to make head against the stream, till you have 
passed up five or six miles further. When the water is 
high, you may by skilful management descend the rajjids 
with rafts, and even with bateaux, in safety. When we 
were there, the water was so low that a canoe could 
scarcely pass without striking ; but we were told that it 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 101 

sometimes rises as much as six feet higher. There is a 
garrison kept at the castle, consisting of a Heutenant 
and thirteen men. The French hmguage and. Canadian 
manners prevail even to this place, and French hus- 
bandry still spoils their beautiful fields. 

To Cheesman's at St. John's, twelve miles. Our ride 
the whole of this distance was along the river bank, and 
of course ver}^ pleasant. We were of opinion that the 
volume of water passing here was equal to that in the 
Connecticut River at Bellows Falls. An island, two or 
three miles in length, divides the stream about half way 
between Chambly and St. John's. Above that, it is about 
half a mile wide, and runs at the rate of two miles an 
hour. St. John's is the most northerly place to which 
the vessels which ply on Lake Champlain approach, 
owing to the shallowness and rapidity of the water be- 
low. A ship-of-war is dismantled and laid up here ; it 
has a shed built over its deck, to protect it from the 
weather, so that, if occasion should require, it might again 
be made serviceable. We found se veral vessels in the har- 
bor, sloops and schooners, — viz., the "Constellation," 
"Hope," "Nancy," &c., — waiting for a favorable wind. 
There are upon the lake fifteen or twenty vessels in all. 
They are employed in transporting passengers, in bring- 
ing potash, beef, pork, and various kinds of produce, and 
even articles of foreign merchandise, from the counties 
bordering on the lake, to this place, and in carrying back 
heavy foreign goods. One thousand pounds sterling has 
been collected in a year at the custom-house at St. 
John's, as a duty, on the single article of tea imported 
from the United States. 

The village of St. John's stands on the west side of 



102 JOURNAL OF A 

the liver, and contains about forty houses and three or 
four hundred people, besides the barracks, and a small 
garrison, consisting of a few artillery men and part of 
a company of infantry. There is but a single company 
of infantry allotted to the garrison here at Chambly, 
and at the Isle aux Noix, which is twenty miles further 
njo the river. There is here neither meeting-house nor 
church, nor any provision made for the public exercise 
of religion. The inhabitants are mostly of English ex- 
traction, but the English and French languages are in- 
discriminately spoken. From Montreal to St. John's, as 
we came, was thirty miles. Had we come by the way of 
La Prairie, it would have been but twenty-seven ; but 
nine miles of the distance would have been by water, 
that being the length of the ferry between the island of 
Montreal and La Prairie. The passage of this ferry 
would also have been in some degree against the direc- 
tion of the current, so that we were told we could not 
effect it in less than four or five hours. What we lost 
therefore in distance we probably gained in time, and 
had moreover the pleasure of visiting the castle of Cham- 
bly, and of riding on the river banks all the way from 
thence to St. John's. 

Having again mentioned Montreal, and probably for 
the last time, it may be proper to observe that the 
number of inhabitants in the city and suburbs is about 
ten or twelve thousand, nine tenths of whom are 
French ; that it contains three nunneries, three Roman 
Catholic, and two or three other churches, a college, 
and several other public buildings. The city was for- 
merly surrounded with a wall and ditch, but both have 
been long neglected, and would afford no protection in 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 103 

case of an attack. It suffered considerably by a fire 
about two years since ; but it is fast recovering from 
that misfortune, and appears to be in a prosperous and 
flourishing state. 

There is but little familiar intercourse between the 
English and French inhabitants. Very few of the 
French have much property or respectability. In 
general, they are ignorant, superstitious, prejudiced, 
mean-spirited, and slovenly. They are hardly to be 
distinguished in their complexion from the Indians, 
and in many things they even affect the Indian man- 
ners. They have an antipathy to the English, but a 
still greater one to the people of the United States, all 
of whom they call by the general name of Bostonians. 

August 8th. We had intended embarking this morn- 
ing on board some of the vessels here, bound for Bur- 
lington in Vermont ; but we had the mortification to 
find that the wind was south, and to learn that, while 
it continued there, it was impossible for us to get on in 
the common mode. It required considerable patience 
to be contented, and more ingenuity to find amusement 
in these circumstances. We had the consolation, how- 
ever, of companions in trouble, there being several other 
travellers here as impatient to proceed up the lake as 
we were, and like us depending for their release from 
confinement upon that most uncertain of all things, the 
wind. 

August 9th. This was a tedious day. The wind 
was still adverse, and likely so to continue. The peo- 
ple of the place told us that the wind here is almost 
invariably in the north or south, unless it blows a gale, 
and that it often continues in one direction a week or 



104: JOURNAL OF A 

ten days. This last piece of information exhausted the 
little patience we had left, and we therefore hired an 
open bateau and four hands to row it to Burlington 
Bay. A conveyance in this mode was neither so con- 
venient nor cheap, but more certain than one by a packet. 

August 10th. Having with the assistance of Mr. 
Cheesman, our innkeeper, furnished ourselves amply 
with comfortable stores for our voyage, and having 
also given in our names at the guard -house, and cleared 
out at the custom-house at the expense of twenty-five 
cents, we left St. John's without regret ; not, however, 
without returning our thanks to Mr. Richardson, the 
trader, and Mr. McBeth, the collector of the customs, 
for their civilities and politeness. In a place so seques- 
tered and dull, it is of double price ; and it can nowhere 
be of more value than at St. John's, where there is but 
little society or amusement, where the surrounding 
fields, though cleared, are neither cultivated nor fenced, 
and where indolence seems to be the order of the day. 
As we had to contend both with the wind and current, 
our progress this day Avas slow. The shores of the 
river for several miles are so little elevated above the 
surface of the water that they are usually iliundated 
in the spring season to a considerable extent on both 
sides, for which reason they are entirely unsettled. We 
landed on an uninhabited spot on the west side, nearly 
opposite to the Isle aux Noix. We were told that there 
was but a sergeant's guard upon the island, although it 
would require an army properly to garrison the works 
there. 

The works themselves, although constructed at a 
great expense since the American war, appeared as we 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 105 

passed, as did those at St. John's, to be in a very ruin- 
ous state. When the French possessed this country, 
to prevent annoyance or surprise from the English set- 
tlements, they used to keep an iron chain stretched 
from the Isle aux Noix to the mainland on each side. 
Part of the piles to which the chain was fastened on 
the west side are still to be seen. 

It does not seem to be agreed at what place Lake 
Champlain terminates in the river Richelieu. Some say 
it is at Windmill Point, so called, which is in the town 
of Alburgh in Vermont, and others contend that the 
lake extends to St. John's. It is certain, however, that 
near the United States line, which is about twenty 
miles above St. John's, there is a perceptible current. 
At night, we reached Rouse's at Rouse's Point, so called, 
which is on the western side of the lake, in the town- 
ship of Champlain and State of New York, twenty- 
four miles. Here we slept. Rouse is an Acadian 
Frenchman. He told us that he lived in Quebec when 
it was taken by Wolfe, and that he served as a guide 
to conduct the provincial troops under General Mont- 
gomery, in their attempt upon that city in the year 
1775. He now resides on a tract of land granted him 
by the State of New York as a reward for that service. 
His wife is a Canadian Frenchwoman, by whom he has 
had twenty-four children, eight of whom are now alive. 
He did not make a very favorable impression upon us. 
He refused to permit his wife to go to mass in the 
morning, whipped one of his children severely for some 
offence, and charged us full price for our meals, 
although we furnished the materials ourselves except 
butter and milk, alleging as the reason that we ate in 

14 



I 



106 JOURNAL OF A 

his house. The house itself was but a log house. We 
slept in the only chamber, to which we ascended by a 
ladder. 

Sunday, August 11th. In the morning, the wind 
blew with such violence ahead, attended with rain, that 
it prevented our departure till near eight o'clock. The 
situation of Rouse's Point is romantic. It commands 
an extensive view of the water, especially to the south- 
ward. As we proceeded up the lake, a more interest- 
ing and magnificent prospect unfolded on either hand. 
Instead of the unvaried level horizon to which we had 
for some time been accustomed, we now beheld the 
mountains of New York and Vermont lifting their heads 
in rude majesty to the clouds. We passed the Isle la 
Motte, North Hero, and South Hero, to the left ; and 
the Great Chazy River, Little Chazy River, Chazy Point 
and village, a pleasant settlement, Point du Roche, where 
we dined on a rock, Cumberland Head and Bay, on the 
right. Plattsburgh, which is situated at the bottom of 
Cumberland Bay, is also a pleasant village. The bay 
which makes between Chazy Point and Cumberland 
Head extends some miles to the westward and north- 
westward. As we passed it, the wind blew out of it 
very fresh with a high and broken swell. Our course 
was almost exactly in the trough, and the bateau there- 
fore rocked much. We were several miles from shore. 
The motion in itself was disagreeable ; but the considera- 
tion, which under such circumstances it is impossible to 
suppress, that the shipping of a sea or the starting of 
a plank might be fatal to us, rendered the passage ex- 
tremely unpleasant to me. Yet we saw several canoes, 
some of which seemed to be hardly more than hollow 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 107 

logs, with spread sails proceeding in various directions 
from Cumberland Head. We were told that they had 
probably been to meeting at Plattsburgh, where public 
worship, for want of a more suitable building, is per- 
formed in the court-house. 

South Hero, called also Grand Isle, exhibits a desir- 
able countr3\ It has a clean, gravelly, limestone beach, 
which rises gently from the water, and is agreeably 
variegated with luxuriant woods and cultivated farms. 
The houses are neat, and were generally surrounded 
with thrifty orchards and extensive fields of Indian 
corn and wheat. The large size of the barns we thought 
a proof of a productive soil. The circumstance of being 
obliged to pass three miles over water to get to the main 
seems to be the principal objection to living upon this 
favored island. Neither the North Hero nor the Isle la 
Motte is equally inviting ; though each of those islands 
as well as South Hero constitutes a town. Towards 
night, the wind subsided ; and, having cleared a consider- 
able distance from Cumberland Head, we concluded to 
pass the narrow channel between the southern extremity 
of South Hero and Providence Island, which is the 
shortest course to Burlington Bay ; whereas, had the 
wind continued, we should, by taking this course, have 
been in danger of drifting on to the eastern shore of the 
lake, before we could have gained the bay. At Cum- 
berland Head is a custom-house. After we had passed 
it a few miles, we saw a sloop arrive and bring to there. 
We concluded this to have been the vessel belonging to 
Captain Smith, on board which we had engaged a pas- 
sage, if the wind had permitted. Having with difficulty 
got out where the lake becomes broad, he was probably 



108 JOURNAL OF A 

able to beat ahead. We passed a low island, the island 
called Two Sisters, and Colchester Point. It was now 
night, but we had no alternative but to proceed. We 
next reached the first point which forms a part of Bur- 
lington Bay in its largest extent. This point is com- 
posed of solid rock, on which, however, a few small 
pines grow. It projects into the lake in a western and 
then in a southern direction, forming a kind of nook ; 
for a considerable distance, it does not measure more 
than two or three rods across. Just before we reached 
this point, we were admiring the beauty of the evening 
and the surrounding scenery. The lake was perfectly 
serene. To the southward, we could discern no limits 
to the water. The nearer shores were mellow and pic- 
turesque, and the prospect on either hand was termi- 
nated by the mountains. The whole was made visible 
by the light of the moon, which was then at the full, 
and just risen. But scarcely had we made our remarks, 
when suddenly the glassy smoothness of the water was 
discomposed. A black cloud in the west assumed an 
indefinite and threatening appearance, the moon was 
obscured, all our lovely scenes vanished, and a copious 
shower poured down upon us, with as little mercy as 
if we had been ever so securely sheltered. On this 
occasion, our fellow-traveller. Dr. Woodhouse, although 
literally a professor of philosophy, lost it all. In about 
fifteen minutes, however, the rain ceased, the moon 
again shone forth in full splendor, the water and land 
reappeared, and all the charms of the evening were 
restored. Having doubled another point, we could dis- 
cern the lights in the houses at the bottom of the bay, 
and at length, about eleven o'clock, reached the accus- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 109 

tomed landing-place. With devout gratitude for our 
preservation, we again found ourselves in New England. 
From Rouse's Point to Burlington is forty miles. We 
were fortunate enough to be directed by some persons 
whom we met in the streets to Holmes's Hotel, which 
proved to be an excellent house. 

Monday, August 12th. Burlington contained upwards 
of two thousand inhabitants at the last census, since 
which time the number has considerably increased. The 
soil of this town is excellent, and the situation eligible. 
The beach of the lake is a clean, smooth sand ; the bank 
is bold, and the land rises with a gentle swell in a kind 
of amphitheatre, for near a mile from the water. The 
village is laid out in regular streets and squares, and 
contains a jail, a large, commodious court-house, a col- 
lege, not yet finished, and about one hundred dwelling- 
houses, besides shops, stores, and other buildings. The 
college is yet in its infancy. We learned the number of 
scholars belonging to it was but fifteen, and that four 
only had as yet received degrees there. The new build- 
ing, when completed, will accommodate sixty. It is 
most delightfully situated on the summit of the emi- 
nence, about a mile from the water, where it not only 
overlooks the village, but commands an extensive pros- 
pect both up and down the lake, and of the opposite 
shore and mountains. 

The lake itself is here about fifteen miles wide. Its 
shores are in general abrupt and mountainous, whereas at 
its northern extremity the surrounding country is so low 
and flat that a rise in the lake of not more than three feet 
inundates a large extent of it. Many appearances in the 
vicinity of the lake concur to prove that in past ages the 



110 JOUKNAL OF A 

water of it must have flowed about fifty feet higher than 
it now does. Before the St. Lawrence forced its present 
channel through the rocks near Quebec, Lake Champlain 
must have stood at the same elevation with that river; 
and, when the St. Lawrence subsided, Lake Champlain 
must of necessity have been drained also. We, this day, 
visited the Lower Falls, so called, in the Onion River, 
about four or five miles above its mouth. There is a 
bridge at this place, just below which the river projects 
into a deep transverse excavation in solid limestone, and 
runs off almost at right angles with its former course, in 
a channel not more than ten or fifteen feet wide. About 
a mile further up, where there is also a bridge, the river 
has forced a narrow passage through a remarkably fine 
limestone. On the southern side, the rock rises ex- 
actly perpendicular from the water, one hundred feet. 
The opposite shore is hardly so high or steep. From this 
place, a ledge of the finest limestone extends both ways, 
and forms the rim or shore of an extensive tract of mea- 
dow or interval land above the bridge, now under high 
cultivation, and which must have been covered with 
water as high as the ledge, before the river forced its 
way through the rock at the bridge. 

Judge Staunton is the proprietor of this tract of land. 
His house, which is elegant, stands on an adjoining emi- 
nence. He began a settlement at this place before the 
late war, but abandoned it at the approach of Burgoyne's 
army, and did not return till the conclusion of peace. 
He can now boast one of the finest farms in New Eng- 
land. We next visited a mineral spring, which has been 
lately discovered about a mile from the village. It has 
been purchased by two physicians, who have cut a road 



TOUE TO NIAGARA FALLS. HI 

to it, and propose to erect a house for the accommoda- 
tion of visitors in its neighborhood. Upon tasting the 
water, we perceived it to be slightly chalybeate, but did 
not think it possessed of any very valuable property. 
There must be more efficacy in a tumblerful of the 
Ballston water than in a gallon of this. 

Tuesday, August 13th. The wind last night blew a 
tempest, and we were frequently awakened by the roar- 
ing of the lake, to rejoice that we were out of the reach 
of its fury, and no longer the sport of its caprice. 

The stages run from Burlington towards Boston only 
on Fridaj^s, and we therefore concluded to hire a Dutch 
wagon to transport us to Rutland. By the obliging offices 
of Dr. Crane, son-in-law of Mr. Holmes, who showed us 
great attention, Ave procured a wagon and driver, and 
this morning began our march. We reached Painter's, 
in the city of Vergennes, an excellent tavern to dine, 
twenty-one miles. The country between Burlington 
and Vergennes is very fine, agreeably diversified with 
gentle swells, and watered not only by the lake, but La 
Piatt, Lewis's, Little Otter, and Otter Creeks. The 
forests are everywhere yielding to the axe, and are suc- 
ceeded by cultivated fields. We were particularly struck 
by the contrast between the miserable husbandry and 
wretched habitations of Canada, and the judicious cul- 
tivation, excellent fences, extensive cornfields, large and 
flourishing orchards, and the commodious, and in many 
instances elegant, houses of Vermont. Vergennes ex- 
hibits a collection of handsome buildings, compact and 
well-arranged, in the midst of a country still retaining 
the marks of its original wilderness. The village, how- 
ever, though intended for a city, and incorporated as 



110 JOURNAL OF A 

water of it must have flowed about fifty feet higher than 
it now does. Before the St. Lawrence forced its present 
channel through the rocks near Quebec, Lake Champhiin 
must have stood at the same elevation with that river; 
and, when the St. Lawrence subsided. Lake Charaplain 
must of necessity have been drained also. We, this day, 
visited the Lower Falls, so called, in the Onion River, 
about four or five miles above its mouth. There is a 
bridge at this place, just below which the river projects 
into a deep transverse excavation in solid limestone, and 
runs off almost at right angles with its former course, in 
a channel not more than ten or fifteen feet wide. About 
a mile further up, where there is also a bridge, the river 
has forced a narrow passage through a remarkably fine 
limestone. On the southern side, the rock rises ex- 
actly perpendicular from the water, one hundred feet. 
The opposite shore is hardly so high or steep. From this 
place, a ledge of the finest limestone extends both ways, 
and forms the rim or shore of an extensive tract of mea- 
dow or interval land above the bridge, now under high 
cultivation, and which must have been covered with 
water as high as the ledge, before the river forced its 
way through the rock at the bridge. 

Judge Staunton is the proprietor of this tract of land. 
His house, which is elegant, stands on an adjoining emi- 
nence. He began a settlement at this place before the 
late war, but abandoned it at the approach of Burgoyne's 
army, and did not return till the conclusion of peace. 
He can now boast one of the finest farms in New Eng- 
land. We next visited a mineral spring, which has been 
lately discovered about a mile from the village. It has 
been purchased by two physicians, who have cut a road 



TOUE TO NIAGARA FALLS. Ill 

to it, and propose to erect a house for the accommoda- 
tion of visitors in its neighborhood. Upon tasting the 
water, we perceived it to be slightly chalj'beate, but did 
not think it possessed of any very valuable property. 
There must be more efficacy in a tumblerful of the 
Ballston water than in a gallon of this. 

Tuesday, August 13th. The wind last night blew a 
tempest, and we were frequently awakened by the roar- 
ing of the lake, to rejoice that we were out of the reach 
of its fury, and no longer the sport of its caprice. 

The stages run from Burlington towards Boston only 
on Fridays, and we therefore concluded to hire a Dutch 
wagon to transport us to Rutland. B}^ the obliging offices 
of Dr. Crane, son-in-law of Mr. Holmes, who showed us 
great attention, we procured a wagon and driver, and 
this morning began our march. We reached Painter's, 
in the city of Vergennes, an excellent tavern to dine, 
twenty-one miles. The country between Burlington 
and Vergennes is very fine, agreeably diversified with 
gentle swells, and watered not only by the lake, but La 
Piatt, Lewis's, Little Otter, and Otter Creeks. The 
forests are everywhere yielding to the axe, and are suc- 
ceeded by cultivated fields. We were particularly struck 
by the contrast between the miserable husbandry and 
wretched habitations of Canada, and the judicious cul- 
tivation, excellent fences, extensive cornfields, large and 
flourishing orchards, and the commodious, and in many 
instances elegant, houses of Vermont. Vergennes ex- 
hibits a collection of handsome buildings, compact and 
well-arranged, in the midst of a country still retaining 
the marks of its original wilderness. The village, how- 
ever, though intended for a city, and incorporated as 



112 JOURNAL OF A 

such, is neither so large nor flourishing as Burlington. 
The only public building at Vergennes is one erected 
for the accommodation of the legislature ; and yet that 
honorable body have never thought fit to assemble there 
but once. The building itself is well constructed and 
handsome, but its beauty is much impaired by a slender 
and ill-constructed cupola, which rises from the centre 
of the roof. Otter Creek passes through the city. It is 
a respectable stream worthy to be called a river, and 
affords navigation from this place to the lake, which is 
distant four or five miles. In the afternoon, we resumed 
our journey. About eight miles from Vergennes, we 
passed the Otter Creek in Weybridge, at which place 
we saw the first meeting-house we had seen after leav- 
insr Bloomfield in New York. We had been advised to 
go as far as Chipman's tavern, four miles beyond Mid- 
dlebury, to sleep ; but, being belated, we were obliged to 
stop at the hotel, near the court-house, kept by Case, — 
a tolerable house. Thirteen miles from Vergennes, we 
repassed the creek. It is but nineteen years since this 
settlement at Middlebury was begun, and but eleven 
since the first framed house was raised in it. 

Now the village contains one thousand inhabitants, 
one hundred dwelling-houses, most of which are hand- 
some, and some of which are even splendid. Two at- 
tracted our notice in particular, one of them belongs to 
Daniel Chipman, Esq., a lawyer, and is said to be the 
best house in Vermont. The other, which cannot be 
much inferior, belongs to Mr. Warren, a clothier ; it is 
of brick, handsomely adorned with marble, constructed 
with much taste, and situated in a romantic spot over- 
looking the creek. The village contains also an elegant 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 113 

court-house, a prison, and a spacious college, in which 
are eighty students, exclusive of those in the academy 
connected with the college. It is but about two years 
since this seminary began to confer degrees. At j)resent, 
it is supported by private donations, and the fees paid 
for tuition ; but the corporation intend, if possible, to 
obtain for the use of their institution a part of the lands 
now allotted by law for Burlington College. 

The village of Middlebury is situated on both sides 
the Otter Creek, at a place where there is a remarkable 
fall of about twenty feet in the stream. It is to this 
circumstance that the place is probably indebted for its 
rapid growth ; for the water is made to work several 
grist-mills, saw-mills, clothing-mills, carding-machines, 
a forge, and a trip-hammer. But what attracted our 
more particular attention was a stone-mill, or machine 
for cutting marble into slabs. The quarry from which 
the blocks are taken is literally at the door, so that it 
requires much more of it to be cut away to afford a con- 
venient passage into the mill. The marble is white, a 
little clouded, and has a very fine grain. The machine 
will cut a block into six or seven slabs at a single opera- 
tion, in a quarter the time it would require two men to 
cut it once. The quarry was discovered and the machine 
erected within a year, by a Mr. Judd, the proprietor of 
them, who is confined within the prison yard for debt. 
He intends to transport the marble for sale to New 
York. 

August 14th. Leaving Middlebury, we rode a few 
rods on a turnpike which they were constructing, 
leading to Woodstock, after which we travelled several 
miles through a charming country, along the bank of 

15 



114 JOURNAL OF A 

Otter Creek. We then passed Middlebury River, after 
that the Leicester River in Salisbury. Rocks of the 
marble kind abound in all this region in vast masses. 
Quarries and even whole mountains of it are found 
also in Rutland, of a quality said to be even superior to 
that of Middlebury. Hitherto it has been wrought only 
by hand. There seems to be a range of country west 
of the Green Mountains, extending from Pittsford to 
Burlington and Jericho, in which marble abounds more 
or less. Has any ever been discovered eastward from 
the Green Mountains ? It is akin to limestone, and sel- 
dom or never found without it. Lime itself is not very 
common in Massachusetts, and has never been met 
with till latel}^ ; and now but in one place in New 
Hampshire. It is the prevailing stone in the western 
part of Vermont. 

We reached Woodward's in Leicester, an excellent 
house, to breakfast, twelve miles. It is but twelve 
years since this place was cleared. Now here are 
smooth fields, fine orchards, large houses and barns, 
and excellent fences, — objects not to be met with in 
those j)arts of Canada which have been cultivated half 
a century. The forests on the western side of Vermont 
are chiefly of hard wood. 

To Widow Keith's in Pittsford, twelve miles. This 
woman keeps a good tavern. Although she is called 
a widow, she has a husband ; but he is a miserable sot, 
and therefore the sign still retains, and the house is 
still called by, her former name. 

To Harry Gould's in Rutland, eight miles, to dine. 
I walked this stage, and by mistaking the road made it 
ten miles. Our fare at Gould's was rather ordinary. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 115 

Rutland is a pleasant village, containing a meeting- 
house, State-house, and about one hundred dwelling- 
houses, forming one street, extending north and south 
near a mile in length. The burying-ground here is 
remarkable for its neatness, and for the elegance of its 
grave and tomb stones, which are of marble, and 
arranged in the most exact order. Leaving Rutland, 
we travelled a few miles still on level ground ; then, 
bending a little to the left, we took leave of Otter 
Creek, and began, though almost insensibly, to rise 
into higher ground. AVithout perceiving any consider- 
able ascent, we at length found ourselves among the 
mountains, several of Avhich, of very respectable magni- 
tude, arose near us on either hand. Our road, which 
was now turnpike, was alongside of a small stream, 
tributary to the Otter Creek, which has excavated for 
itself a channel of prodigious depth. At the place 
where it breaks out into the open country, it seems to 
have forced a passage literally through the mountain. 
This channel, as nearly as we could ascertain from the 
road, at the distance of half a mile, is not more than 
two or three rods wide at bottom, yet the banks are 
almost perpendicular, and more than two hundred feet 
high. 

To Finney's in Shrewsbury, a tolerable house, to 
sleep, nine miles. Here we overtook the mail-stage 
which runs from Rutland to Walpole. Fortunately, it 
was empty. We engaged our passage in it, and dis- 
missed our Burlington wagon, the driver of which 
appeared to be tired of his journey, and we were as 
heartily tired of him. 

August 15th. Rose at four o'clock, and pursued our 



116 JOURNAL OF A 

journey. In Mount Holly, distant about fifteen miles 
south-eastward from Rutland, we passed the height of 
land, and very soon after perceived a stream, the head 
of Black River, running an easterly course towards 
Connecticut River. This was the first water we had 
seen, after leaving the Mohawk, which does not dis- 
charge itself into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As before 
reaching the height of land we had not been conscious 
of any remarkable ascent, so neither did we afterwards 
perceive any very considerable descent. The road is 
made as near to the side of the streams as possible, and 
is in general pretty good. In some places where it is 
made along the mountain side, there are frightful preci- 
pices to the stream below. Many thriving settlements 
are to be seen among the mountains. The soil in gen- 
eral is strong and productive, and much more free from 
rocks than the interior of New Hampshire. 

To Button's, a very good house, in Cavendish, to 
breakfast, eighteen miles. Passing the Black River 
near Dutton's house, we travelled over a long hill, and 
soon after came to the bank of Williams River, the 
course of which we pursued till we came to Connecticut 
River. From Dutton's to Bellows Falls is twenty-two 
miles ; from thence to Southard's in Walpole is four 
miles. Our whole journey this day was forty-four 
miles. That pernicious weed, the Canada thistle, 
seems to be approaching the sea-coast ; for we saw it 
even after crossing the Connecticut River. 

At Walpole, we began to realize our proximity to 
home, by meeting with people of our acquaintance, and 
by finding late Boston newspapers, especially the " Cen- 
tinel " of the preceding day. Southard keeps a good 
house. 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 117 

August 16th. The stage does not go from this phice 
towards Boston till Saturday morning. We were there- 
fore to find amusement in Walpole for this day. We 
spent the morning in devouring the contents of the late 
newspapers which we found here, a species of entertain- 
ment to which we had long been strangers. Having 
taken an early dinner, in the afternoon we went to pay 
a visit to Mr. Geyer at the Falls. He received and 
entertained us very politely. His house is spacious, 
neat, and genteelly furnished, and his garden is hand- 
some and Avell improved. His accommodations seem 
the more agreeable from being contrasted with the 
rudeness of the surrounding scenery. Nature seems to 
exhibit herself here in an undress. Immediately behind 
the house, the mountain rises in a nearly perpendicular 
precipice five or six hundred feet. In front, the Con- 
necticut River is compressed to less than a rod in 
extent by the rocks, through which it forces its way in 
a very irregular channel, with great impetuosity. 

When Mr. Geyer was about building his house, he 
had contracted with a man in his neighborhood for the 
stones for his cellar ; but a very unexpected supply 
superseded the contract. A shower loosened a mass of 
the rock from the brow of the mountain behind the 
house, so that it fell to the bottom of the precipice, and 
rolled to the very edge of the cellar, which proved to 
be fully sufficient for the walls of it. From Mr. Geyer's 
contiguity to the mountain, I should think that he 
would sometimes entertain apprehensions that similar 
phenomena might again happen, when the fragments 
might roll a little further, and would therefore be much 
less acceptable. Rattlesnakes abound in this mountain. 



118 JOURNAL OF A 

We descended the river bank, and passed dry shod to 
the brink of the stream at the Falls, over beds of rock, 
which during the freshets are covered. This cataract, 
considerable as it is, when compared with that at 
Niagara seems perfectly contemptible. Notwithstand- 
ing the uncommon firmness of the rock here, there are 
many cylindrical excavations in it of great size and 
depth. Some of them are ten feet in diameter, and 
twelve or fifteen feet deep. Major Williams and my- 
self successively descended into one which Avas dry. It 
was six feet deep, and eighteen inches in diameter at 
top, but broader near the bottom. It would be a very 
secure hiding-place. 

Connecticut River, as well as the St. Lawrence, 
heretofore flowed much higher than it now does. The 
spot where Mr. Geyer's house stands was probably 
alluvial, and the foot of the mountain behind it was 
washed by the current. Many of the rocks here and in 
the vicinity, which are now far above the reach of the 
water, retain marks of its operations. This considera- 
tion accounts for the different strata of interval lands 
on its banks. 

The foot of Bellows Falls was formerly a celebrated 
place for the salmon and shad fishing. It was the 
highest part of the river to which the shad ascended ; 
but a dam which has within a few years been built 
across the river, about forty miles below, at Montague, 
has so entirely obstructed the passage of the fish that 
not a salmon or a shad has since been taken above it. 

The canal b}^ Bellows Falls, with the mills and water- 
works upon it, is the property of Colonel Atkinson, of 
New York. They have cost him ninety thousand dol- 



TOUR TO NIAGARA FALLS. 119 

lars, but do not yield an equivalent income. These 
works have a rough and clumsy appearance, and seem 
not to have been well designed or executed. At even- 
ing, we returned to Southard's. 

Saturda}^ August 17th. At five o'clock this morn- 
ing, we took our departure from Walpole in the Groton 
stage. From the high ground over which the road 
passes, between that place and the point where you 
have a very extensive prospect of the south-eastern 
quarter of Vermont, the surface is extremely mountain- 
ous and irregular. These inequalities, though on a 
larger scale, bear a resemblance to what one may sup- 
pose would be the appearance of the ocean, if during 
a tempest it were suddenly to become solid. 

To Holbrook's in Keene, a very good house, to 
breakfast, thirteen miles. The third New Hampshire 
turnpike which leads from Walpole to Boston, and on 
which we were now travelling, is a very great improve- 
ment upon the old road. Some of the worst hills, how- 
ever, over which it passes might have been avoided, 
and the corporation have it now in contemplation to 
alter the course for that purpose. 

To Danforth's in Jaffrey, to dine, sixteen miles ; a 
poor house. Here, almost for the first time during our 
journey, we had occasion to complain of the bad quality 
of the bread. In the very depths of the forests through 
which we had passed, we had uniformly found good 
bread. It is also worthy of remark that in all the new 
settlements the flavor of the meat is remarkably fine. 
The mutton in particular, both in grain and taste, has 
a striking resemblance to venison. In our last stage, 
we passed several miles along the foot of the Monad- 



